Indonesia backs Islamic states meeting on int'l terrorism
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesian fully supports the agenda to address the improper perception which links Islam with terrorism due to be addressed in a meeting of Islamic ministers in Kuala Lumpur on Monday.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said the agenda to be discussed in the ministerial meeting of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) member countries is of central concern to Indonesia.
"We share the same point of view that Islam cannot be associated with terrorists and the world should brush the negative image of Islam aside," Marty told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
The Indonesian delegation will be led by Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra. Yusril replaces Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda, who is accompanying President Megawati Soekarnoputri on her trip to four Asian countries.
Marty said that as the world's most populous Muslim country, Indonesia had repeatedly called for an end to allegations that Islam fostered terrorism.
Organizers have said that the goal of the coming OIC meeting was to find the real definition of terrorism and look for the roots of militancy. It is hoped the OIC meeting will lead to a broader conference at the United Nations.
The OIC groups 57 Islamic countries. Muslims account for a fifth of the world's population.
Marty said the Kuala Lumpur meeting would also address the growing situation in the Middle East.
Indonesia, he said, will maintain its opposition to Israel's action against Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.
"Indonesia will continue to support the Palestinian cause and has full respect for President Arafat in his fight for the Palestine's freedom," he said.
But Israel's continued attacks and occupation of Palestinian territory could very well dominate the three-day meeting which some say is a major factor in the rise of Islamic militancy and widespread anger in the Islamic world over the treatment of Muslims.
"We consider those acts committed by Israel as state terrorism," Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar was quoted by Reuters as saying in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.
Syed Hamid also hinted that Israel's campaign against the Palestinian Authority would also be a prominent theme in the OIC's rejection of any expansion in the U.S.-led war on terrorism would be discussed during the three-day meeting.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict goes to the heart of Islam's uneasy relationship with Islamic militancy. Most Islamic countries say Israel's occupation of Arab land is a main reason Muslim militants have turned to violence.
"It is not possible when you want to solve the issue of international terrorism to see these things happening...It doesn't look right," the Malaysian minister said.
Minister who began arriving on Sunday also cited current events in the Middle East as a point of concern to be discussed.
Farouq al-Kaddoumi, head of the Palestinian Liberation Organization's political department, blamed Washington for allowing Israel to commit atrocities and to terrorize his people.
"We are sure that the Americans...have given them (Israel) the green light to continue such atrocities and terrorism. This is state terrorism," he told Malaysia's state-run Bernama news agency on Sunday after arriving for the OIC meeting.
Meanwhile Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Mohamad Zarif stressed the need for "the OIC to "differentiate between terrorism and the struggle for self-determination and liberation against oppression."
The presence of Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah will ensure that the conference is not completely driven by events in the Middle East.
The ministers are also expected to cite poverty, low literacy as well as political oppression as reasons why some Muslims have resorted to militancy.