Foreign ministers of the 57-member Organisation of the Islamic Conference have voiced their support for Mr Yasser Arafat as leader of the Palestinian people.
The ministers made no mention of US President George W. Bush's speech this week on Middle East peace, which effectively called for Mr Arafat to be ousted, in their final statement issued at the end of their three-day meeting in the Sudanese capital.
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But the statement "renewed the Islamic nation's collective support to the Palestinian people's struggle to recover their rights ...under the leadership of President Yasser Arafat."
Mr Bush said on Monday that Palestinians could expect US support for an independent state within three years if they voted out leaders "compromised by terror", which was taken as a clear reference to Mr Arafat.
He also urged Israel to eventually withdraw from occupied Palestinian territories and dismantle Israeli settlements in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Mr Faruq Qaddumi, head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation's political department, told journalists the statement did not mention Mr Bush's speech "in order to give time to Arab and Muslim states to seek clarification" on its content.
AFP