Seven countries including Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt say they will join US president Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, according to a joint statement.
They will join Israel, which also publicly confirmed its participation earlier on Wednesday.
The group of Muslim-majority countries named in the statement are Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan and Qatar.
The board was originally thought to be aimed at helping end the two-year war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and oversee reconstruction. But its proposed charter does not mention the Palestinian territory and appears to be designed to supplant functions of the UN.
However Saudi Arabia said that the countries endorsed the aim of consolidating a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, supporting reconstruction and advancing what they described as a “just and lasting peace”.
Following their accession, Slovenia’s prime minister Robert Golob said he had declined the invitation because the body “dangerously interferes with the broader international order”.
So far Bahrain, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Morocco and Vietnam have also agreed to join.
It is not clear how many countries have been invited to join Trump’s new body -Canada, Russia and the UK are among them, but have not yet publicly responded.
The Vatican also confirmed Pope Leo has received an invitation. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said the Pope would need time to consider whether to take part. (BBC)
