Indonesia calls for renewed OIC commitment
Indonesia calls for renewed OIC commitment
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post,
Jakarta
Indonesia has called on the Organization of the Islamic
Conference (OIC) to maintain its commitment to resolutions issued
by the organization in recent decades to improve the tarnished
image of Islam.
As the world's most populous Muslim country, Indonesia urged
on Tuesday the conference to withstand moves to link Islam with
violence and terrorism.
"We must restructure the OIC and all member countries should
stick to their commitment in representing Islam as a peaceful
religion," Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda
said here before heading to the summit.
"The organization should come up with a new plan that could
cast off the image of Islam as having a connection with violence
and terrorism," he added.
The ministry's spokesman Marty Natalegawa said Indonesia would
suggest streamlining the organization's secretariat.
"We also urge all member countries to look at hundreds of
resolutions, whether they have been fully implemented or simply
added to the long list of promises," he said on Tuesday.
He said the poor implementation of these resolutions would
devalue the commitment of the OIC member countries to represent
Islam.
Many have criticized the organization as an idle grouping due
to the lack of a common stance between member countries in
addressing various political issues.
Most of the time, the member countries simply share a general
idea, such as condemning Israel's attack on Palestine, but each
country has failed to translate the policy into actions.
Smith Alhadar, a Middle East observer, said the OIC was
ineffective because of factionalism within the organization.
He observed the presence of at least three factions within the
organization with different views in addressing various political
and security issues.
First, the group of hard-liners whose members are often
opposed to the United States, such as of Iran, Libya, Yemen and
Iraq during Saddam Hussein's regime.
Second, the moderate group consisting of Indonesia, Malaysia
and others, whose stance is based on issues and not on interests.
Third, the conservative group which often supports the U.S.
policies. This group comprises Saudi Arabia and other Gulf
countries.
Smith, from the Indonesian Society for Middle East Studies
(ISMES), said Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries were the main
donors of the OIC.
"Since those countries are the loyal supporters of the U.S.,
the OIC fails to accommodate the interests of other Muslim
countries," he said.
Taking Afghanistan as an example, Smith said the OIC failed to
unite and give a strong response to prevent the U.S. from
attacking Afghanistan to oust the al-Qaeda terrorist network,
which was blamed for the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Smith said the calls for a revitalization of the OIC should be
interpreted as efforts to empower the organization so that it
could not be dictated to by certain countries, including the U.S.
"The revitalization of the OIC should also prompt member
countries to clearly define what terrorism is. Only with a clear
definition the OIC members can play an influential role in the
global war against terrorism," he said.
President Megawati Soekarnoputri is slated to leave for Kuala
Lumpur on Wednesday to attend the Summit.
She is also scheduled to hold bilateral talks with Pakistan
President Pervez Musharraf and President of the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Kellen Berger.
Other non-OIC members invited are Russian President Vladimir
Putin and Philippine President Gloria Arroyo.