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key role in Iraq urged •Israel condemned
PUTRAJAYA, Oct 17: Muslim states affirmed their commitment to combat terrorism at the end of the 10th summit of Organization of the Islamic Conference on Friday.
They pledged to “contribute to multilateral efforts to counter this scourge,” while making the point of including “state terrorism”.
The final communique at the end of the summit also rejected “selectivity and duplicity of standards in combating terrorism and all attempts to associate terrorism with a particular religion or culture.”
The OIC called for the signing of a convention to “distinguish between terrorism and the legitimate struggle for the right to self-determination of people living under occupation or foreign domination”.
Terrorism was one of the major themes of the summit, with constant condemnation of what is seen as the Western world’s equation of terrorism with Islam and a perception that the so- called war on terrorists is, in fact, a war on Muslims.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned the summit of rising hostility between Islam and the West, while the OIC paid tribute to President General Pervez Musharraf’s plea for a new approach to conflict which he called “enlightened moderation”.
KASHMIR: The OIC reaffirmed its support to the people of Jammu and Kashmir for their right to self-determination by virtue of the UN resolutions.
In the communique, the OIC supported the ongoing efforts of the government of Pakistan to seek a peaceful resolution of the dispute through all possible means, including substantive bilateral talks with India.
The OIC “called for the respect of the human rights of Kashmiri people and the ending of their continuous violations, and urged India to allow international human rights organizations to verify the condition of human rights in Kashmir occupied by India”.
The OIC called for serious negotiations for a peaceful settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the will of the people of occupied territory.
The conference noted with appreciation “Pakistan’s offer of a ceasefire along the Line of Control and the offer to encourage a general cessation of violence within Kashmir involving reciprocal obligations and restraints on Indian forces and the Kashmir freedom movement”.
The conference, chaired by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, expressed concern at the Indian rejection of the action plan for peace in the region and called upon India to consider Pakistan’s proposal for peace in the region.
The conference approved President Musharraf’s proposal to constitute a commission of eminent persons from member countries and requested the OIC chairman to head the commission.
The recommendations of the commission will be considered by an extraordinary session of the Islamic summit conference to be held by the end of 2004.
IRAQ/MIDEAST: The leaders dropped plans for a resolution calling for a specific timetable for the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq in the face of opposition from leaders of the country’s interim Governing Council.
Instead, the OIC welcomed the US-sponsored UN Security Council resolution passed on Thursday. The final communique did, however, maintain a demand for the United Nations to play a central role in the transition.
The OIC condemned violence in Iraq, including attacks on targets such as the UN headquarters in Baghdad and the Jordanian and Turkish embassies, as “criminal terrorist bombings”.
It called for the prosecution of former officials of Saddam Hussein’s regime responsible for crimes such as “genocidal acts” against the Iraqis and others.
On the Middle East, the summit issued a strong condemnation of Israel, but shyed away from open support for the three-year Palestinian uprising.—Agencies
