Algeria not objecting to Syrian OIC suspension

The official spokesman of the Algerian foreign affairs ministry Ammar Balani in his declaration to the Algerian news agency Thursday said: "Algeria is not objecting on the decree of suspending Syrian membership in the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation (OIC)". He added that Algeria merely recorded the efficacy of this resolution, after alleged leaks from the OIC summit said that Algeria and Iran had objected so Syria's suspension. Some sources from the meeting said that "Algeria was very conservative in applying any political, economic, or diplomatic sanctions, against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime as the Arab League resolution came, which pushed some foreign countries including the US to ask for an explanation from Algeria about its stance on the Syrian crisis". Balani said: "There is only one country that was reluctant to support the suspension, and other countries reiterated their stance on the Syrian crisis and are not responsible on the decision taken related to Syrian issue." Algeria earlier in the Arab League refused a resolution that asked President Assad to step down, stating then that Syria's internal security was its own responsibility, and that the decree exceeded the ambit of the Arab League. The final statement draft stated that "The Islamic summed agreed on suspending Syria's membership the OIC," as talks wound up in Saudi Arabia on Thursday. Algeria was known to not interfere in "countries' internal affairs", saying "the people are the only ones who should determine their faith". During the so-called Arab Spring, Algeria was accused of supporting Muammar Gaddafi's regime in Libya after certain members of his family, including his daughter Aisha, fled the revolution for asylum in Algeria.