ISTANBUL, 15 June 2004 — The United Nations special envoy for Iraq yesterday urged Islamic countries to support the new interim government in Baghdad, with just over two weeks to go before the US-led occupation authority hands back power to Iraqis.

Speaking at the opening of a meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference here focusing on Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, UN envoy Lahkdar Brahimi said it was in the interest of OIC members to help Iraq, and in particular the election process.

“I appeal to you to respond favorably to the interim government’s request for support,” he said.

Brahimi also said that Israel’s plan to withdraw from the occupied Gaza Strip could benefit the Middle East peace process as long as it was a complete pullout carried out in consultation with the Palestinian Authority and in line with an internationally sponsored road map for peace.

Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer told delegates that unless there was a solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, America’s “Greater Middle East Initiative” would fail.

The “Greater Middle East Initiative” is Washington’s project for economic and political reform in the region.

But Sezer also called for democratic reform in the Middle East. “We are experiencing a moment when the winds of change are strong... No country can dissociate itself from this atmosphere of change,” said Sezer during his opening speech to the conference.

He stressed the need to reinforce respect for human rights, individual liberties, equality between the sexes and religious tolerance. But he said it was up to each country to determine the speed of the reforms “which must be realistic”.

“But it is clear that we must make progress toward a common identity on the indispensable need for reforms... without sacrificing our traditions and without remaining behind the times,” he said.

Sezer said that modernization plans in Muslim countries in the region would be in vain unless a solution is found to the Middle East crisis.

“The occupation which is continuing in Palestinian territories, the excessive and disproportionate use of force... have lifted the conflict to a higher level,” he said.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan also said he had reservations about Washington’s Greater Middle East Initiative.

“Change must not be imposed from the outside. Turkey believes that the Muslim world, including Turkey, needs to implement reforms, but at its own pace,” he said.

Washington is likely to come in for sharp criticism in Istanbul for both its unpopular war on Iraq and its staunch support for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Jean Obeid slammed Israel for repeated attacks against Palestinians, Syria and Lebanon, while Syria asked for a condemnation of US sanctions against Damascus to be included in one of the 54 resolutions to be adopted by the Istanbul meeting.

An Arab minister, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a resolution would call for an end to the occupation by Israel of all Arab territories.

Proposals for the final resolutions call on OIC members to fight international terrorism and call for a UN conference to define what terrorism is to clarify the legal difference between terrorism and resistance, the minister said.

OIC Secretary General Abdulwahed Belkeziz called on Muslim countries to fight extremism, which he said was damaging the image of Islam in the 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.

And he added: “Fanatics have seen in this an opportunity to commit odious and reprehensible acts... which is why we must fight this extremism resolutely and determinedly at a time when we are working to correct the tainted image of Islam in the world.”