D-8 Summit opens in Kuala Lumpur

The sixth Summit of the Eight Islamic Developing Countries (D-8) opened here on Tuesday in presence of leaders and senior officials from the member states. The objective of the summit is to find ways to battle soaring food and energy prices. The theme of the summit is 'Meeting Challenges Through Innovative Cooperation'. Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who arrived in the Malaysian capital on Monday, addressed participants in the summit this morning. The D-8 -- comprising Iran, Indonesia, Egypt, Malaysia, Turkey, Pakistan, Nigeria and Bangladesh -- represent about one billion people, or 14 percent of the world's population. The group was set up in 1997 as an economic alliance with the objective of improving the position of Muslim developing countries in the global world economy through the diversification of their... [read full story]