Islamic world shows new stance on Iraq

Islamic world shows new stance on Iraq

The acceptance of Iraq's U.S.-appointed Governing Council at the world's biggest meeting of Islamic nations here signals a search for unity and moderation amidst the new turbulence in global politics, officials said on Sunday.

Senior officials from the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) are preparing for the largest Muslim summit since the terrorist attacks on the United States, with some leaders hoping for a landmark change in attitudes.

Leading the way is Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, who has called for the OIC to be restructured to make it at once more vibrant and more moderate.

Pakistani officials have leaked in advance that Musharraf "will speak on the idea of enlightened moderation and closer cooperation among Muslim states to combat extremism and terrorism".

"The big issue is the revitalization of the OIC," Tariq Osman Hyder, Pakistan's additional foreign secretary, told AFP here.

"The OIC should maintain its core values, speak for the Muslim world, protect its interests and at the same time manage its relationship with the Western world."

He said that on the question of Iraq, the OIC, which represents the world's 1.3 billion Muslims, was "united that Iraq should be helped and assisted in the reconstruction and the restoration of public order."

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs, Gholamali Khoshroo, said: "A consensus is emerging. All OIC members are urging the occupiers to leave Iraq and to give power to the Iraqi people and at the same time are keen to help Iraq in reconstruction.

"Iran is of the view that the democratic system should emerge in Iraq as soon as possible."

He said the Iraqi Governing Council's opposition to member- state Turkey's decision to deploy peacekeeping troops alongside the U.S. occupation forces in Iraq would not be on the OIC agenda, while indicating that Iran would prefer a UN mandate.

"Iran has great reservation on the issue of unilateral intervention in Iraq. Any kind of intervention should be under the supervision of the United Nations, whether it is neighbors or nonneighbors."

Members of the Iraqi council say they are against military involvement by neighboring countries, fearing it might interfere with domestic politics and impede the already fragile efforts to rebuild their war-torn country.

United Arab Emirates senior official Mohamed Samhan told AFP: "There is new reality on the ground. We support the governing council and whatever they decide, that is their own business.

"We are not opposed to sending peacekeeepers but we think the role of the United Nations is very important for peace, security and reconstruction of Iraq."

The host of the Oct. 16 and Oct. 17 summit, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, has also indicated his desire for change within an organization long weakened by internal differences.

"We think we should have a different strategy which can give us better results," he told the BBC in an interview.

He said he was "not too ambitious" about the summit, but "we can persuade perhaps a number of them to unite to act effectively despite the fact that there is no full unity." --AFP