>>>CAIRO -- Members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation are holding a summit in Cairo. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on the first visit to Egypt by a leader of the Islamic Republic, is among those taking part. Historically, the OIC has been tepid on political issues, but in a time of sweeping change within its member states, some hope the forum will grow more dynamic.
Leaders from across the Muslim world gathered for the two-day summit in Cairo, with the conflicts in Syria and Mali taking center stage.
Egypt has taken over the rotating chairmanship of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and Islamist President Mohamed Morsi laid out the group's challenges - including what he called Islamophobia and extremism, even as he is under attack by opponents at home.
Summit participants called for a negotiated solution to the conflict in Syria. The OIC suspended Syria's government last year.
Iran's foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, downplayed Tehran's position as one of the Assad government's few backers.
"I'm optimistic that a solution to the crisis can be found, a Syrian-Syrian solution, a peaceful solution due to the initiative of his Excellency President Morsi," he said.
France's military operation against Islamist militants in Mali was a source of division too. The effort was praised by Senegal. But Morsi has condemned it.
Amid protests in Tunis after the murder of an opposition leader there, Tunisia's president cancelled plans to attend the conference, a reminder of the instability across the region.
The conference is giving Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a chance to build ties between his Shi'ite-led nation and Sunni-majority Egypt.He's the first leader of the Islamic Republic to visit Egypt. The countries broke relations in 1980 over Iran's revolution, and Egypt's recognition of Israel.
But while Ahmadinejad stressed the importance of an Egyptian-Iranian alliance, sectarian differences were on display during his visit to Al Azhar, a seat of Sunni learning. Clerics there accused Iran of interference by spreading Shi'ite belief.
Political analyst Said Sadek says Iran feels on the defensive.
"I think one of the things they understand that the West wants is that the Arab Spring turns into a sea of Sunni regimes against Iran. So, they want to get from Egypt any symbolic blessing or cooling down of attacks against Shi'a, but this is very difficult," he said.
Underscoring the tensions, on the first day of Ahmadinejad's trip, a protester tried to hit him with a shoe.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation
- Established in 1969
- Formerly known as the Organization of the Islamic Conference
- Has 57 members
- Aims to represent world's 1.5 billion Muslims
- Works with the U.N. and other organizations to protect Muslim interests
- Has three main bodies: The Islamic Summit, The Council of Foreign Ministers and The General Secretariat