KUALA LUMPUR, 22 April 2004 — Islamic nations meeting in Malaysia this week will reject a US-backed Israeli plan to withdraw from some Palestinian territories and will call on Jerusalem to respect international law, officials said yesterday.
Foreign ministers and envoys from about 20 of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) will also urge the United Nations to play a key role in Iraq after Washington’s June 30 transfer of authority.
OIC chair Malaysia brought the one-day meeting forward to April 22 from its planned May 4 date at the request of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.
“Political assassinations and a new road map will not contribute in solving the Middle East issue,” Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.
US support for the Israeli plan and Israel’s assassination of two leaders of the militant Hamas group are deepening Arab and Muslim hatred for the United States.
“For as long they have the backing of their superpower ally, then Israel will continue to reign in the Middle East,” Syed Hamid had earlier told a Malaysian television talk show.
“It’s as if they are the special people of the world.”
As violence rages in Iraq, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has entered a potentially more dangerous phase with the killing of Palestinian leaders and last week’s backing from Washington for Israel to retain Palestinian territories it won in war.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri said OIC ministers would urge a return to the “Quartet” plan previously backed by Washington, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia.
“What we’ll have to think of is how do we convince the United States and the rest of the international community that we need to actually stick to the quartet plan,” he said.
“That’s the best. It’s the one that speaks of a two-state solution of this problem and that’s the one that’s ultimately going to bring about durable peace,” he said, adding the Palestinian issue had direct bearing on Iraq.
Recent weeks have been Iraq’s bloodiest since Saddam Hussein was overthrown a year ago with hundreds of deaths.
Malaysia became OIC chairman last year, taking the lead in a body reflecting the views of the world’s 1.3 billion Muslims but with scant means or institutional framework for concrete action.
Asked about the effectiveness of the OIC meeting, Syed Hamid said the body could not give up its struggle.
“Effectiveness is a question of relativity. Whether it changes things or not is a secondary question,” he said.
At least 10 foreign ministers including those from Pakistan, Indonesia and the Palestinian territories, have confirmed they will attend today’s talks.
Several key members, including Iran, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar, are sending only junior ministers while there is no word yet on Iraqi representation.
