Strengthening Muslim solidarity

Strengthening Muslim solidarity

The following is based on a paper presented by Indonesian
Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas at the Islamic Conference
of Foreign Ministers held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso from June
28 to July 2, 1999. This is the first of two articles.

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso: The dawning of a new millennium,
instead of bracing our nascent hopes for a better world, has only
given us a more acute sense of vulnerability. Tensions and armed
conflicts continue to embroil various parts of the world while in
the economic sphere, developing nations bear the brunt of the
adverse impact of globalization. We must therefore marshal our
collective strength in working for global peace, true
independence and international justice and in addressing the
inequities and imbalances of international economic relations.

In the Middle East, it is imperative that the peace process be
revived. Under a new leadership, Israel now has the opportunity
to comply with the peace accords to which it has committed
itself, to cease its systematic oppression of the Palestinians
and to desist from its brazen attempts to change the demographic
make-up of Al-Quds Al-Sharif, in the process of obliterating its
religious, historical and cultural heritage.

If there is to be peace in the region, Israel must abide by
all relevant UN General Assembly and Security Council
resolutions, including those overwhelmingly adopted by the Tenth
Emergency Special Session of the General Assembly on the
immediate halting of the construction of Jewish settlements in
Jabal Abu Ghneim.

Israel must unconditionally withdraw from all Palestinian and
Arab territories in fulfillment of UN resolutions 242 (1967), 338
(1973), and 425 (1978). And it must now resume negotiations in
accordance with the principles embodied in the Madrid Conference,
especially the principle of land for peace.

In Afghanistan, we note with regret that the UN-sponsored
talks among the parties to the internecine conflict that has torn
the country apart has made no progress at all. We fervently hope
that the warring factions avail themselves of this chance to
shape the peace that will bring respite for the war-weary people
of Afghanistan. Organization of African Unity, in common search
for a political solution to the fraticidal strife.

My delegation is gratified to note that the stalemate over the
Lockerbie incident has been resolved through an agreement on the
trial of the suspects before a neutral court and the consequent
decision to lift the sanctions on Libya.

We fervently hope that the sanctions imposed against Iraq can
also be lifted. Security Council resolution no. 986 must
therefore be fully implemented so that the long-suffering people
of Iraq may finally be delivered from the humanitarian tragedy
that has befallen them. We also urge Iraq to keep on working with
the Tripartite Commission and the International Committee of the
Red Cross in addressing the issue of Kuwaiti and third country
nationals who have been unaccounted for as well as properties of
the Kuwaiti Government that have been missing since the Gulf War.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, we are heartened by the progress in
the building of political and economic institutions. Freedom of
movement has been greatly improved and elections have shown a
definite trend towards greater mutual tolerance and pluralism.
For lasting peace to be achieved, however, these gains must be
enhanced and consolidated. The international community, including
our organization, must continue to extend support for the
rehabilitation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Elsewhere in the Balkans, the ferocious military measures
taken recently in order to resolve the problem of Kosovo have
extracted a heavy toll in human lives and devastated the physical
and social infrastructures of an entire society. The oppression
by a government of a large part of its own population and the
massive use of force by foreign powers to stop the oppression are
both extremely regrettable. But now the task is the expeditious
resettlement of half a million refugees and displaced persons
before the onset of winter. We should therefore join the
international community in extending whatever support we can
muster for this humanitarian undertaking.

We are greatly concerned at the renewed tension and conflict
in Kashmir along the Line of Control between India and Pakistan,
and at the possible escalation of hostilities between the two
nuclear-capable neighbors. We urge both sides to forsake armed
confrontation and persevere in resolving their differences
through negotiations on the basis of the relevant UN Security
Council resolutions and the 1972 Simla Agreement.

In Southeast Asia, as may be recalled, the government of the
Philippines and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) signed
a Peace Agreement in 1996 after successful negotiations
facilitated by our Organization through the Ministerial Committee
of the Six. The Agreement put a close to over two decades of
civil war in the southern Philippine region and brought new hopes
for peace and progress to the region's Muslim population.

Since then, the implementation of the peace agreement has been
largely on track with the integration of MNLF officers and men
into the Philippine military and national police being its most
satisfactory aspect.

In recent times, however, implementation has had to contend
with differences in the perception of the two parties on
political and legal aspects of the agreement, the vagaries of
political events in the Philippines as well as the impact of the
financial crisis on the resources of the Philippine government,
thus adversely affecting the progress in implementing the socio-
economic plans for the region. The Ministerial Committee of the
Six is therefore meeting at the margins of this Session to assess
the situation and thresh out the best possible way of
implementing the Peace Agreement.