OIC to denounce Israel's 'disengagement' plan

OIC to denounce Israel's 'disengagement' plan

Hazlin Hassan, Agence France-Presse, Kuala Lumpur

The world's Islamic nations including Indonesia will try to rally international support against United States policies in the Middle East and Iraq at an emergency meeting here on Thursday, Malaysia's foreign minister said on Wednesday.

The meeting of the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) will press Washington to drop its backing for Israel's latest strategy on the Palestinian territories and for a bigger United Nations role in Iraq, perhaps including peacekeeping troops from Muslim countries, Syed Hamid Albar told reporters.

The special conference of the world's biggest grouping of Muslim nations was called after U.S. President George W. Bush last week endorsed Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to keep some Arab land captured in the 1967 war.

The OIC would call for Israel to stick to the international road map for peace and for the early establishment of a Palestinian state, Syed Hamid said.

"We want the international community to play a stronger and more meaningful role, to support the road map and to change the U.S. attitude which openly supports Israel," he said in a television interview.

"For as long as they get the backing of their superpower ally, then Israel will continue to reign in the Middle East ... it's as if they are the special people of the world and are untouchable."

Bush's support for Sharon's plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip but keep some Jewish settlements in the West Bank triggered anger in the Arab world and led Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to ask Malaysia, the current chair of the OIC, to call an urgent meeting.

Plans were already afoot to hold an OIC conference next month on the deteriorating situation in Iraq, but it was brought forward and the Middle East issue now appears to top the agenda.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell on Tuesday tried to reassure Arabs and European allies that Washington remains committed to the road map and will not pre-judge the outcome of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

In meetings with Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Moasher and top EU diplomat Javier Solana, Powell stressed that the U.S. still supported an independent Palestinian state as called for in the road map and said Bush's endorsement of the Israeli plan was not a reversal in U.S. policy.

On Iraq, Syed Hamid, speaking at two separate news conferences on Wednesday, said the OIC would call for the UN to play a "pivotal" role after June 30 when the US is due to hand some powers to an Iraqi interim authority.

Asked if this would include security, he said: "It has to be. If you talk about the UN playing a central role it has to be the blue berets (peacekeeping forces) of the UN.

"Then many countries will be able to participate and maybe some Islamic countries too."

Asked whether Malaysia, which has taken part in previous UN peacekeeping efforts, would be willing to send troops to Iraq, Syed Hamid said: "We'll look at it when the time comes. Once the UN has decided, then the government will look at it."

The special ministerial conference is expected to draw representatives from some 10 member states holding special positions in the OIC, including Palestine Liberation Organization political chief Farouk Kaddoumi.

Syed Hamid said Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri would also attend, along with representatives from countries including Morocco, Iran, Sudan, Indonesia, Senegal and Turkey.