Makassar, S Sulawesi (ANTARA News) - Indonesia plans to encourage leaders of Hamas and Fatah, at the upcoming 5th OIC Summit, to reconcile with each other to realize the goal of Palestinian independence, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said here on Friday.

"The OIC Extraordinary Summit will discuss Palestine with regard to settling conflicts. What is important for Indonesia is how Hamas and Fatah, West Bank and Gaza, would unite," he said.

He said if the leaders of the Palestinian groups continued to argue, it would be difficult for Islamic countries to support Palestinian independence.

"If they are still separated and involved in conflict, how can they solve their own problems?" he asked.

The two-day summit will be held in Jakarta on Sunday and Monday.

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said the Indonesian governments decision to honor the request of the secretary general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to host an extraordinary summit was based on a desire to do something for Palestine.

"The options were to either do nothing or do something and we have chosen to do something," she said.

The 5th extraordinary OIC summit on Palestine and Al Quds is a concrete effort by the OIC member countries to push for a settlement of the conflicts in Palestine.

The situation in Palestine is worsening day by day, especially with regard to the status of Al Quds (Jerusalem) which is occupied by Israel.

It is undeniable that Palestine has been recognized by 137 countries and has been accepted as an observer country of the United Nations and this success has been achieved through a process involving international stakeholders, including Indonesia, she said.

"In view of that, when the OIC secretary general and Palestine offered Indonesia to host the meeting, we immediately accepted it because we wish to contribute towards the process," she said.

As host, Indonesia would propose two documents in the form of a Resolution and a Declaration for adoption as the results of the summit, she said.

Until now 47 countries out of 56 member countries of the OIC, two observer countries, five state representatives from UN Security Council and UN special envoy in the Israeli-Palestinian Negotiation Quartet, have confirmed their presence at the summit.

reporting by fransiska ninditya

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