Turkey has been setting the pace in the negotiations over a successor to the Moroccan, who has been OIC secretary general since 2001 and who is set to be replaced at this three-day gathering of 57 ministers from Muslim countries.

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul underlined the "growing interest" his country had in "revitalising the OIC."

"We would like to contribute to this by all the means at our disposal and it is in that spirit that my government has decided to put forward a candidate for secretary general of the OIC," he said.

Turkey's choice, 59 year-old teacher Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, is facing stiff competition from a candidate put forward by Bangladesh, Salahuddin Qader Chowdhury, favoured by Saudi Arabia and Egypt among others, and the Malaysian Hasny Agam.

"The members of the OIC want to avoid a vote that will lead to divisions and prefer opting for a consensus regarding the three candidates," one Arab minister told AFP.

The minister said the choice of secretary general was never decided through an election, but rather through consensus.

"If we can't reach a consensus, some countries are proposing extending the term of the current secretary general by one year in order to avoid divisions," he said.

Meanwhile, Belkeziz, during the meeting, blamed the rise of Muslim extremism on the feeling of "powerlessness" felt by members of the Islamic world.

"The powerlessness that the Muslim world is experiencing today and the difficulty of finding solutions to our just causes have been the reason behind the rise of extremism," he said.

The meeting also heard a statement from UN Secretary General Kofi Annan calling for Islamic support for Iraq's government.

He called on the OIC member states to help the new Iraqi interim government, which is due to take power on 30 June.