AS the aerial bombardment of the Houthis in Yemen by the Saudi-led coalition continues and as Pakistan continues to flirt with the possibility of entering the latest Middle East conflict militarily — Defence Minister Khwaja Asif is in Saudi along with representatives of all three services for talks with Saudi officials — there is also an effort by Pakistan to keep the diplomatic wheels turning.

On Monday, the Prime Minister’s Office put out a statement that, while not explicitly saying so, suggested an effort to activate the OIC to play some kind of role to bring the conflict in Yemen to an early end and prevent it from spilling over onto Saudi soil.

That is a good idea, not just for a moribund organisation, but for restoring peace in the Saudi-Yemen region of the Middle East.

Take a look: OIC’s role to be sought for ending Yemen conflict

It seems likely that a military solution will perhaps only temporarily quell the Houthi uprising. Therefore, involving the sum total of the Muslim world and using the preeminent forum for Muslim states to attempt a diplomatic solution in the Yemen conflict would, if successful, have all manner of positive consequences for a Muslim world riven by conflict.

There remains though — despite the federal government’s best intentions — the first problem of carving out a credible space for the OIC to act as an impartial mediator in the Yemen conflict.

Under the present Saudi secretary general, Iyad Ameen Madani, the OIC has taken a distinctly anti-Houthi, pro-Saudi stance.

The OIC has not only supported the Saudi-led military actions in Yemen but its secretary general has openly blasted the Houthis, blaming them for the civil war and claiming that military action was necessary to save Yemen from “the chaos unleashed on it by the Houthi group and its repercussions for the entire region”.

Given that fierce stance by the OIC’s chief, it hardly seems likely that the Houthis will want to negotiate at an OIC table.

However, the OIC’s present slant is also a function of it becoming hostage to political bickering and the Muslim world being pulled between two poles, Saudi Arabia and Iran.

If countries like Pakistan were to promote the idea of the OIC becoming a conflict-resolution forum and were to do so without explicitly favouring one side in the intra-Yemen conflict over another, there could be a possibility of making the OIC relevant again.

But then much would depend on the Pakistani delegation presently in Saudi first not committing to fight on the side of the Saudi-led coalition.

Published in Dawn, April 1st, 2015

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