OIC Chief`s flight rescheduled; arrives today

UNB, Dhaka :Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Iyad Ameen Madani, scheduled to reach here on Saturday evening on a four-day official visit, now arrives early Sunday.As per his fresh flight schedule, the OIC Secretary General arrives at 3:50am by a flight of Etihad Airways, Shameem Ahsan, Director General (External Publicity Wing) at the Foreign Ministry, told UNB on Saturday evening. Madani, who will be leading a five-member delegation, was originally scheduled to reach the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 7:30pm Saturday by an Emirates flight.The official, however, did not elaborate the reasons behind the flight rescheduling. This will be Madani’s first visit to Bangladesh after assuming office as the Secretary General recently and the purpose of the visit is to strengthen the existing cooperation between the OIC and Bangladesh, according to the Foreign Ministry.He is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at Jatiya Snagsad Bhaban at 6:30pm on Sunday after holding meetings with Finance Minister AMA Muhith, Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali and Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque at the Secretariat and Foreign Ministry respective on the same day.He will also meet Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid apart from visiting some institutions, according to a foreign ministry media release.The OIC Secretary General is scheduled to meet President Abdul Hamid at Bangabhaban on Monday at 7:30pm. Madani, a former minister of Saudi Arabia, assumed office as the 10th Secretary General of OIC on January 1, this year after his election in the 12th OIC Summit held in Cairo, Egypt in February 2013.Bangladesh is among the first few countries that the Secretary General decided to visit after taking over charge as the OIC General Secretariat.The OIC is the second largest international organisation, after the UN family, which groups 57 Muslim-majority countries spread over four continents.