OIC condemns terrorism and Israel as Tehran summit ends

OIC condemns terrorism and Israel as Tehran summit ends

TEHRAN (AFP): Moslem leaders condemned Israel yesterday as a
"terrorist state," demanded the surrender of all occupied Arab
land and defied a U.S. law banning oil and gas investment in Iran
and Libya.

The 55 members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference
(OIC) were also due to end their three-day summit in Tehran later
yesterday with a strong call for the need to combat terrorism.

The OIC calls for "the liberation of all occupied Arab land
and for the restoration of the usurped rights of the Palestinian
people," said a text of the Tehran Declaration obtained by AFP.

It also "condemns the expansionist policies and actions of
Israel, such as the expansion and construction of Jewish
settlements... and stresses the need for Israel to cease state
terrorism."

The statement, which is set to be formally adopted before a
closing speech by Iranian President Mohammed Khatami later
yesterday, also rejects the 1996 Iran-Libya Sanctions Act --
dubbed the D'Amato law.

The Moslem countries "reject unilateralism and the
implementation of extra-territorial laws, and call on all states
to consider the so-called D'Amato law null and void."

The law, passed by the U.S. Congress, sanctions firms of all
nationalities investing more than US$40 million in the oil or gas
industries of either Iran or Libya.

Washington accuses both countries of sponsoring terrorism and
of trying to obtain nuclear weapons, and has pushed for their
total economic and political isolation.

The French firm Total, along with the Malaysian oil company
Petronas and Gazprom of Russia, signed a two-billion-dollar
contract in September to develop Iran's gas sector in defiance of
the law.

Moslem leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to a code of
conduct to fight terrorism approved at the OIC summit in
Casablanca in 1994 and called for an international conference on
terrorism under UN auspices.

The OIC states "strongly condemn terrorism in all its forms
and manifestations, while at the same time recognizing the right
of self-determination of those peoples living under colonial or
foreign domination, or under foreign occupation."

The issue of terrorism has been high on the agenda of the
meeting following recent massacres in Algeria and the killing of
62 people by militant gunmen at a tourist site in Luxor, Egypt,
last month.

The Luxor attack was condemned across the Moslem world,
including by the Islamic republic of Iran which has been keen to
stress the legitimacy of groups such as Palestinian Hamas and
Lebanese Hizbollah which it says are fighting against occupation.

The OIC conference also approved 142 political, cultural and
economic resolutions on issues affecting the Moslem world, which
were prepared by OIC foreign ministers last week.

The resolutions deal with a host of conflicts in the Moslem
world -- such as Afghanistan, Kashmir and Bosnia -- as well as
social issues in Islamic countries.

The issue of women's rights has been pushed strongly by host
nation Iran, and resolutions call for the respect of the "dignity
and rights" of women to be respected.

The need for an Islamic common market has spearheaded the
economic discussions and resolutions, which have also reiterated
the need for Moslem countries to boost trade between themselves.

At the final session, leaders papered over differences between
them on the issues affecting the Middle East peace process and
Gulf security.

The OIC meeting has drawn more than 30 Moslem heads of state
and prime ministers to Iran, making it the largest international
event here since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

The Jeddah-based OIC was set up in 1971 to foster Islamic
unity, and represents more than 1.2 billion Moslems around the
world.

Annan -- Page 16