JEDDAH, 7 August 2006 — The secretary-general of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, sent urgent letters yesterday to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, foreign ministers of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and leading EU officials detailing the outcome of an emergency OIC meeting last week.
Representatives of Muslim nations meeting in the Malaysian city of Putrajaya on Thursday demanded an immediate halt to hostilities in the Middle East warning that boiling anger over the Israeli offensive in Lebanon could trigger a new wave of terrorist attacks.
Ihsanoglu forwarded the Putrajaya declarations adopted by OIC’s Emergency Extended Executive Committee Meeting on the situation in Lebanon and in the occupied Palestinian territories asking the recipients to give due consideration to the documents. EU representatives that were sent the letters included Prime Minister of Finland Matti Vanhanen, who is the current EU president, and the EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Defense Policy Javier Solana.
Key nations from the 57-nation Islamic bloc, including Iran and Syria as well as US allies in the “war on terror” such as Turkey, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, attended the meeting.
In a joint statement, they accused Israel of “blatant and flagrant” human rights violations in carrying out “indiscriminate and massive” air strikes in its 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 enforcing an immediate and unconditional comprehensive cease-fire,” they said. They also added that Israel should bear “full responsibility for the consequences of its aggression” including the financial costs of rebuilding Lebanon.
Media reports mentioned that the Putrajaya Declaration calls for an investigation into the war crimes being committed by Israelis in south Lebanon and the Gaza Strip and the participation of troops from Muslim countries in the UN peacekeeping forces. Malaysia announced that it was willing to contribute 1,000 soldiers to the peacekeeping force.
The OIC secretary-general in his letter emphasized that the recent developments in the Middle East caused great frustration and anguish all over the Islamic world. He believed the continuation of the killing of hundreds of civilians and the destruction of infrastructure would not serve the interests of any member of the international community.
Ihsanoglu stated that besides the need for an immediate cease-fire in Lebanon, there was a need at this juncture for initiatives aimed at a comprehensive peace in the Middle East. He cautioned that any failure in taking such initiatives would endanger not only peace efforts in the region but peace and stability in the whole world as it would provide fertile ground for extremists to disseminate their ideology of violence.
Ihsanoglu urged the recipients of his letter to focus on and remedy the root causes of the present disaster in the Middle East. He said the General Secretariat of the OIC would do its utmost in assuming an active role in contributing to the success of all efforts aiming at a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in the region. He also called for an international conference to give a new jump-start and strength to the peace efforts and stated that the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002 could serve as a basis for this conference as it provides a viable peace vision for all.
