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CANBERRA - The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Wednesday urged greater diplomatic pressure to force Syria's government to negotiate with the opposition but said it was against the use of foreign military intervention.

 

Secretary General of the 57-member organization, Ekmeleddin Ihsanolu, told an audience in Canberra that military intervention would only harm the Syrian people, citing conflicts in Iraq, Libya and Somalia.

 

"All these military interventions worsened the position rather than solved the conflict," he said.

 

International powers, along with the OIC and the Arab League, plan to meet in Tunis on Feb. 24 as part of a newly-created "Friends of Syria Group" to look for a way to peacefully end the conflict in Syria.

 

"This will throw increasing pressure on the government to talk to the opposition. We need to work out a blueprint for the future transformation of power," he said.

 

The head of Egypt's influential seat of Sunni Islamic learning, al-Azhar, on Tuesday called for bold Arab action against the Syrian government, raising regional pressure on President Bashar al-Assad, a member of the minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, that has dominated Syria for five decades. — Reuters