BEIRUT: Pakistan tops the list of the Muslim countries getting 49 million dollars aid by the major Arab oil exporting nations (OAPEC). A decision to this effect was taken by the Finance Ministers of the OAPEC meeting in Kuwait last week, according to local political weekly “Al Dyar”. The decision is yet to be ratified by the 10 OAPEC Governments. … The Finance Ministers decided to donate massively to other Muslim oil importers and to create a new economic unit as a first step to establishing a common Arab currency.

[Meanwhile as reported by news agencies from Hamburg,] UN Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim said today [May 11] that after the political decolonisation a process of economic decolonisation is necessary. Speaking in a West German television programme, [he] said one of the most difficult problems ... was that of reforming economic conditions in the world. The old economic regime no longer sufficed, not even for the world’s rich countries, Dr Waldheim said. … Asked about [UN] influence on world conflicts, [he] said that in cases in which UN assistance was asked true solutions had not been found, but the situation … had been brought under … control.

Published in Dawn, May 12th, 2025