OIC meeting will not slam U.S. strikes: Analysts<\/p>\n
Miral Fahmy, Reuters, Doha<\/p>\n
Islamic nations meeting on Wednesday will not condemn the U.S.-
\nled strikes on Muslim Afghanistan, mainly because they are fed up
\nwith the extremist Taliban movement, analysts and officials said
\non Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Foreign ministers representing the world's 1.2 billion Muslims
\nare instead expected to appease their seething populations at the
\nemergency meeting in the Gulf state of Qatar by expressing
\nsolidarity with the impoverished Afghans.<\/p>\n
They will also try to ensure that Washington does not extend
\nits war on terrorism to any other Muslim country.<\/p>\n
Ordinary Muslims and Arabs have slammed the U.S.-led assault
\nagainst Osama bin Laden and Afghanistan's ruling Taliban which is
\nprotecting him.<\/p>\n
But most of their governments have remained silent after years
\nof criticizing the Taliban's hardline Islamist ideology and its
\nharboring of Arab and Muslims militants.<\/p>\n
Only Syria, Iraq and Iran, hardline states known for their
\nanti-U.S. rhetoric, have so far publicly criticized the strikes.<\/p>\n
Some officials said the 56-nation Organisation of Islamic
\nConference (OIC) meeting was likely to face difficulties in
\nforging a consensus between Muslim nations opposed to the strike
\nand those who tacitly supported it.<\/p>\n
But analysts point out that only one Muslim country, Pakistan,
\nrecognizes the Taliban and that bin Laden's pledges to purge
\nIslamic countries of their pro-Western leaders have intensified
\ntheir desire to be rid of him.<\/p>\n
\"Most Arab and Muslim nations silently approve of the U.S.
\nstrikes but they cannot confront their people with this support
\nwithout risking their legitimacy,\" said Hussein Amin, a Middle
\nEast analyst based in Cairo.<\/p>\n
\"On the one hand, they see the Taliban as an embarrassment to
\nthe faith and they also do not want to jeopardize U.S. aid or
\nsupport. But on the other hand, they have to deal with rising
\nanti-U.S. sentiment,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Iran called for the emergency OIC meeting, which was intended
\nto formulate a Muslim reaction to last month's suicide attacks on
\nU.S. cities, which Washington blamed on bin Laden, a Saudi-born
\nmilitant who sees himself as the vanguard of Islam.<\/p>\n
Before the U.S. retaliatory strikes, Qatari officials had
\npredicted that the Doha meeting would have no trouble meeting its
\nobjectives: agreeing on a common definition of terrorism and a
\nmechanism to grant humanitarian aid to Afghan refugees.<\/p>\n
Analysts now expect a final communique that largely focuses on
\nthe plight of the Afghans but features little, if any, criticism
\nof the United States.<\/p>\n
Another key issue will be renewed support for the Palestinian
\nuprising against Israel, particularly after bin Laden used the
\nemotive issue as a rallying cry in a taped interview on Qatar's
\nwidely-watched al-Jazeera network.<\/p>\n
\"There will be disagreements between Muslim states at the OIC
\n(on the strikes) but they will be resolved by a bland, carefully-
\nworded statement that will express solidarity with the Afghan
\npeople and condemn terrorism in general,\" said a London-based
\nregional researcher who declined to be named.<\/p>\n
Mohammed al-Sayid Said of Egypt's Ahram Centre for Strategic
\nStudies, said he expected the OIC, led by Arab ministers meeting
\nlater on Tuesday, to call on the United States to spare Sudan,
\nIraq and Syria -- nations on Washington's terrorist list.<\/p>\n
\"It is very difficult for Islamic countries to stop the war
\nbut we can help in drafting its parameters,\" he said. \"The United
\nStates should realize that it can't simply change governments as
\nit wills. Muslims are a world power and we should start acting
\nlike one.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/oic-meeting-will-not-slam-us-strikes-analysts-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}