Jakarta to host international conference on Bosnia

Jakarta to host international conference on Bosnia

JAKARTA (JP): Foreign Minister Ali Alatas has said that
Indonesia plans to host an international conference on Bosnia-
Herzegovina as an effort to reach an integral solution to the
crisis in former Yugoslavia.

Speaking after the opening of a ministerial meeting of the
Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) in Casablanca, Morocco,
over the weekend, Alatas said he would discuss the idea with the
other foreign ministers attending the OIC meeting.

"I will hear their reactions in order to find the right time
and the best possible way to hold the international conference,"
the minister said, as quoted by Antara.

Alatas said that the situation in Bosnia reached an alarming
point after Western Europe and the United States showed little
interest in further intervention and considered a block of
Serbian military victory in Bosnia a near impossibility.

"It is very bitter to see that Bosnia-Herzegovina, a nation
whose sovereignty and territorial integrity have been recognized
by the United Nations, is about to be sacrificed for nothing just
because the governments, who tried to find a solution to the
crisis, believe they are doomed to failure.

Alatas hopes that the conference on Bosnia will issue a joint
statement on ways to mobilize the international community towards
a just solution to the Bosnian crisis and to push for a lift of
the present arms embargo against Bosnia.

The conference will also discuss ways for the OIC to paint a
good picture of Islam in the eyes of the western world.

"The West has always seen Islam from a negative point of view
while reality has objectively demonstrated that the majority of
Moslems throughout the world have actually become victims of
violence, oppression and aggression by outside parties."

Opening

The opening of the 22nd OIC conference on Saturday was
postponed for seven hours due to the late arrival of the
Pakistani foreign minister who chaired the previous meeting.

The opening ceremony took place at 5:00 p.m in a tent outside
of the Hyatt Regency Hotel and was marked by the reading of
verses from the Holy Koran. Moroccan Prime Minister Abdellatif
Filali and OIC Secretary General Hamid Algabid jointly opened the
conference.

The OIC meeting, which was attended by 50 foreign ministers,
will be followed by a summit meeting on Dec. 13 and 14.

Alatas, who heads the Indonesian delegation, was accompanied
by Director General of Political Affairs Izhar Ibrahim, the
secretary general of the Ministry of Religious Affairs Zarkowi,
the Indonesian ambassador to Morocco, Iskandar Dinata, and other
officials.

OIC Secretary General Algabid said in his opening speech that
Islamic solidarity needed to be revitalized in order to liberate
Jerusalem from Israeli occupation and to achieve a just peace in
the Middle East, Bosnia, Afghanistan and Somalia. (tis)