Khatami wins boost from Islamic summit<\/p>\n
By Paul Taylor<\/p>\n
TEHRAN (Reuters): An Islamic summit in Tehran gave a strong
\nboost to Iran's new President Mohammad Khatami and showed
\nIranians the welcome they can expect on the world stage if they
\neschew harsh anti-Western rhetoric.<\/p>\n
Moslem leaders flocked to pay court to the moderate president
\nelected in May, defying U.S. efforts to isolate Iran for its
\nhostility to Arab-Israeli peace talks and alleged backing for
\n\"terrorism\".<\/p>\n
The biggest diplomatic event in Iran since the 1979 Islamic
\nrevolution was a tremendous morale booster for the Iranians and
\nillustrated the depth of Arab resentment over U.S. support for
\nIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.<\/p>\n
\"Just compare the guest list in Tehran and at last month's
\n(U.S.-sponsored) Middle East economic conference with Israel in
\nQatar,\" a European diplomat said. \"In this zero-sum game, Iranian
\ngains are American losses.\"<\/p>\n
Key U.S. allies such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which stayed
\naway from the Doha meeting, trooped to Tehran to mend ties with a
\nstate which both long regarded as sponsoring Islamic subversion
\nin their countries.<\/p>\n
And the summit's Tehran Declaration, replete with attacks on
\nIsrael, omitted any mention of the U.S.-led peace process,
\nreflecting Iran's views more than those of the Palestinians and
\nArab states that have made peace accords with the Jewish state.<\/p>\n
Gulf Arab leaders and Central Asian presidents whom the new
\nIranian leadership has been successfully courting in recent
\nmonths showed by their presence in Tehran that Iran is too large
\na neighbor to isolate or ignore.<\/p>\n
But the summit was not an unmitigated triumph for the entire
\nIranian leadership.<\/p>\n
Several key heads of state stayed away, notably Egyptian
\nPresident Hosni Mubarak, Jordan's King Hussein and Morocco's King
\nHassan, the previous chairman of the Organization of the Islamic
\nConference (OIC).<\/p>\n
And many of those who came found the inaugural anti-Western
\ntirade by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei jarring.
\nUnder Iran's constitution, Khamenei has more power than the
\nelected president.<\/p>\n
But several visitors pointedly showed their preference for the
\nsoft-spoken Khatami, the smiling new face of Iran.<\/p>\n
His speech on Tuesday was applauded for its calls for dialogue
\nwith other civilizations, learning from the West and building
\nconfidence among Moslem states that have been in conflict.<\/p>\n
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan praised Khatami as a man of
\nhis times, who believed in the rule of law and popular
\nsovereignty and was \"determined to work with his neighbors and
\nwith the rest of the world\".<\/p>\n
But he made only a perfunctory reference to Khamenei, whose
\nshrill address was full of talk of plots by the enemies of Islam
\nand the depravity of Western civilization.<\/p>\n
Delegates said some countries were reluctant to include a
\nmention of the \"leadership of his Eminence Ayatollah Khamenei\" in
\nthe final declaration.<\/p>\n
They eventually accepted a compromise which mentioned Khatami
\ntwice and Khamenei once.<\/p>\n
The Tehran summit provided an opportunity for Iran to talk
\neven to its most loathed regional adversary, Iraq.<\/p>\n
Khatami met Iraqi Deputy President Taha Yassin Ramadan, the
\nmost senior Baghdad official to visit Iran since the two
\ncountries fought a bitter eight-year war in 1980-88.<\/p>\n
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah had two meetings with
\nKhatami, emphasizing the warming ties between the powers on
\nopposite sides of the Gulf.<\/p>\n
But the new Iranian president was wary of a Saudi offer to
\nmediate between Tehran and the United States, and of a State
\nDepartment offer of dialogue with a representative of the Iranian
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
Iranian deputy foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said
\nTehran saw nothing new in U.S. statements and the U.S. attitude
\nto Iran would have to change first.<\/p>\n
But he added intriguingly: \"Any indications of a real change
\nin the attitude will be seriously considered here.\"<\/p>",
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