JEDDAH, 6 December 2006 — As turmoil continues to bubble throughout the Middle East, Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) is calling for sanity throughout the region.

During an exclusive interview with Arab News yesterday, Ihsanoglu said the situation in Iraq had no parallel throughout the history of Islam and that the US armed forces must remain in Iraq until some resolution can be worked out between the Iraqis.

“If the American forces withdraw before Iraqi forces take over security and if the government is not in full command of all forces, and if security is left to the militias, I think there will be more bloodshed,” Ihsanoglu said.

“We are not justifying the presence of any foreign forces there, but we have to look at it in the right context. The only aim should be safeguarding the (Iraqi) people. And preventing the killings,” he added.

The OIC head said one possible way of ending the occupation in Iraq was to have peacekeeping forces there.

“The modalities of this option have not yet been thought through,” he said. “But I am sure that some OIC countries would be interested in helping Iraqis out of their difficulties. Of course, there would be countries that are acceptable to both the Iraqi government and the Iraqi people.”

Ihsanoglu said a peaceful solution could not be hammered out by Iraq alone.

“We have to admit that without the cooperation of Iraq’s neighbors and without the cooperation of some international powers, we cannot reach a comprehensive and peaceful solution in Iraq,” he said. “The crisis would be prolonged. The suffering of the Iraqi people would be prolonged. We have to get the Iraqi people out of this cycle of killing. And this needs cooperation from within Iraq as well as from those outside Iraq.”

Ihsanoglu said the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains the core of disruption across the Middle East and that the Palestinians have a right to defend themselves against a nation that continues to seek excuses to deny them their inalienable — and ultimately inevitable — human rights for a future of peace and security.

“What is going on in Palestine is not a civil war,” he said. “It is a war against aggression and against occupation,” he said.