PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia, 4 August 2006 — Muslim nations yesterday demanded an immediate cease-fire in the Middle East and warned that boiling anger over the Israeli offensive in Lebanon could launch a new wave of terrorism.
With Muslims around the world enraged by the carnage in Lebanon, where the death toll has topped 900, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) convened an emergency meeting here to map out a unified Islamic response.
Key nations from the 57-nation group, including Iran as well as allies of the US “war on terror” such as Turkey and Pakistan, condemned what they called the “relentless Israeli aggression” and called for an immediate truce.
In a joint statement they accused Israel of “blatant and flagrant” human rights violations in carrying out “indiscriminate and massive” airstrikes in its three-week-old campaign against the Hezbollah militia.
“We demand that the UN Security Council fulfill its responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security without any further delay by deciding on and enforcing an immediate and unconditional comprehensive cease-fire,” they said.
They said Israel should bear “full responsibility for the consequences of its aggression.” The United States has declined to back international calls for a cease-fire and indicated that Israel’s ground and air war was justified by the fight against terrorism.
But Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the OIC chairman who called yesterday’s meeting, warned that Muslim anger across the world was deepening over the bloodshed in Lebanon.
“Muslims are angry even in moderate Muslim countries,” Badawi told a press conference after a day of talks that led to the group’s statement.
“We fear that a new wave of angry people may join the ranks of terrorism and take their own actions,” he said. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the OIC’s Turkish secretary-general, earlier told delegates that the “Islamic Ummah is outraged.” “They are perplexed in the face of gross double standard applied by the international community,” Ihsanoglu said. One of the key Islamic leaders at the one-day meeting, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, reportedly said behind closed doors that wiping out Israel would solve the current crisis.
“The real cure for the conflict is elimination of the Zionist regime, but there should be first an immediate cease-fire,” he was quoted as saying by an Iranian news agency.
