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| Sunday, 12 October 2003 |
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Islamic nations tell U.S. to leave Iraq to U.N. PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia, Saturday (Reuters) A meeting of Muslim nations opened in Malaysia on Saturday with a call for U.S.-coalition forces to leave Iraq and to give the United Nations a chance to restore order and reconstruct the country. Abdelouahed Belkeziz, Secretary-General of the 57-member Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), said of all the conflicts involving Muslims, the occupation of Iraq and the Palestinian problem needed to be addressed most urgently. "Foremost of these is the eviction of foreign forces from Iraq, allowing the United Nations to administer Iraqi affairs," Belkeziz told senior officials gathered in Putrajaya at the start of the OIC Summit. It is the first full OIC summit since the al Qaeda attacks on the United States in September 2001, and the subsequent U.S.-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. An emergency summit was held in Qatar in March in a vain attempt to stop the invasion of Iraq. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is expected to attend when heads of state from up to 35 member countries meet on October 16-17. A delegation from the U.S.-backed Iraq's Governing Council is also expected to join in the summit in Malaysia's new administrative council. Belkeziz also condemned Israel for failure to live up to peace process commitments. "In Palestine, the situation continues to worsen day after day in the face of the Israeli government's obduracy to fulfil the obligations demanded of it by the road map. "It continues to be entrenched in its illegal practices of punishing the Palestinian people," he said. Belkeziz said the eight-day meeting, which ends when leaders depart on October 18, should also discuss major challenges to Muslims arising from terrorism and globalisation and "campaigns against Islam, Muslims and human rights." Other conflicts that the summit will touch upon include the situations in Afghanistan, Kashmir, Azerbaijan, the Philippines and Somalia. |
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