Day-1

Senegal to host next OIC summit
PUTRAJAYA, MALAYSIA: Senegal will host the 11th Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Summit in 2006, Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar told the official Bernama news agency Friday.

The announcement came at the end of a two-day summit in Putrajaya, 
Malaysia.

Berlusconi slams Mahathir`s Jews-lambasting statements at OIC summit
By Zia Iqbal Shahid
Brussels: Despite President Pervez Musharraf's clarification on Malaysian Prime Minister's Jews-lambasting statement, The President of the European Union, Silvio Berlusconi has strongly condemned Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohammad, for his statement at the opening session of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) summit in Malaysia.

Talking to journalist in Brussels at the end of a 2-day EU summit, the current EU President, Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi said, "The (EU) Presidency has given me the mandate to condemn forcibly the statements by the Malaysian Prime Minister at the Islamic Conference,".

Berlusconi was apparently referring to Mahathir"s statements, during Thursday`s opening session of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) summit, which purported the Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad as saying, "Jews rule the world by proxy. They get others to fight and die for them".

Dr Mahathir, according to reports, had also said "Muslims could learn from the Jewish race, who ruled the world by proxy despite their small numbers and currently, gained control of the most powerful countries".

In his statement in the opening session of the OIC, Malaysian Prime Ministers is also reported as saying, "1.3 billion Muslims simply cannot be defeated by a few million". Pakistani President Parvez Musharraf's is cited as making an attempt to clarify the statement by Mahathir. 
"Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad, in his speech at the opening session of the 10th Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) summit, did not declare war on the Jews but was merely speaking his mind", Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf is reported as saying. 

Musharraf's clarification, however, could not prevent EU Presidency's vitriolic reaction on Mahathir's statement. Referring to the statement by Mahathir, EU current president said, ""I think his words hinder the efforts being made at the moment to further inter-ethnic and religious harmony." Berlusconi said, "We would support a dialogue between the Islamic world and the western world, Christian religions and people of the Islamic faith ". 

Meanwhile, the EU leaders in a statement called for promoting closer dialogue with the Arab world. They also expressed concern over the so-called Israeli security fence saying it could "make the two-state solution physically impossible." 

The EU summit called on Israel to reverse its settlement policy and to dismantle settlements built after March 2001. EU leaders "strongly condemned suicide attacks" against Israelis.

On Iraq, EU leaders confirmed their determination and commitment to play a significant role in the political and economic reconstruction of Iraq an underlined that the UN should play a strong and vital role. 

EU leaders at the end of the summit said, "the EU remains ready to explore ways to develop a wider cooperation with Tehran on condition that Iran convinces the international community on the peaceful nature of its nuclear programme.

The 2-day summit ended without showing the sign of any agreement on the crucial issues like EU constitution and common European defence policy. The block of 25 countries remain devided on the issue of new system of defence cooperation while Washington has demanded an emergency meeting of NATO next Monday over fears that the EU's defence ambitions will undermine the trans-Atlantic alliance. 

Iran's Khatami meets head of Iraqi Governing Council at Islamic summit
TEHRAN: Iran's President Mohammad Khatami held talks with the current head of Iraq's US-backed Governing Council, Ayad Allawi, on the sidelines of an Islamic summit in Malaysia on Friday.

"Iran wants peace and security to be established in its neighbour, Iraq, soon. Immediate stability in Iraq is of high importance for Iran," Khatami said, quoted by the state news agency IRNA, in his meeting with Alawi and several other council members.

Khatami, whose Islamic republic is wary of the US-led military presence in war-torn Iraq, argued that the "national interest of the Iraqi people calls for (the) immediate withdrawal of the occupying powers from the country."

The Governing Council, he said, could "provide the blueprint for drawing up an independent and progressive constitution for Iraq compatible with the religious and cultural identity of the Iraqi people and put it to public voting."

Alawi, for his part, stressed at the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) summit in Malaysia's administrative capital of Putrajaya, the need for ties to develop between Tehran and Baghdad to reinforce regional stability.

The countries fought an eight-year war until 1988, and the United States has since its forces toppled president Saddam Hussein accused Iran of interfering in the rebuilding of Iraq. Two other members of the Governing Council -- Abdel Aziz al-Hakim of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq and Jalal Talabani of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) -- have also visited Tehran for talks in recent weeks.

SCIRI is the country's main Iraqi Shiite Muslim group, while the PUK is one of the two Kurdish groups which control northern Iraq.

Iran pledges not to build nuclear weapon
PUTRAJAYA, MALAYSIA: Iran's President Mohammad Khatami pledged Friday that his country would not build nuclear weapons, and would continue to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as a crucial deadline approaches.

"We have no intention to build nuclear weapons, it is not in our defense strategy to develop a nuclear weapon," he told a press conference on the sidelines of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) summit in Malaysia.

He said the IAEA demands were unfair, "but we have no intention to interrupt our cooperation with the IAEA, we continue to cooperate with the agency." The IAEA has been pressing Iran to sign an additional protocol to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which would give the watchdog the right to carry out unannounced inspections of suspect Iranian facilities.

The agency has given Iran until October 31 to answer questions on its nuclear programme, amid fears it is trying to develop nuclear weapons. "We have never said Iran will never join the protocol and we have no problem in principle," said Khatami. But he accused the United States of setting additional conditions that "jeopardise the national interests" of Iran.

Iran president denies harbouring al-Qaeda fuguitives
PUTRAJAYA, MALYAIS: Iran's President Mohammad Khatami denied Friday his country was harbouring al-Qaeda fugitives following a report this week that Osama bin Laden's son was helping to run the terror network from within the Islamic republic.

"They (al-Qaeda) have always been against Iran. They are hostile towards Iran and we are also against them. We are not going to provide safe haven for them in our country," Khatami told a press conference on the sidelines of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) summit here.

The Washington Post reported Tuesday that Saad, the eldest son of Osama bin Laden, had risen to the top ranks of al-Qaeda and is helping run the terror network from inside Iran.

The paper, which quoted US, European and Arab officials, said Saad was being protected by an elite unit linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards, the Islamic republic's ideological army.

Khatami said al-Qaeda were committing violence in the name of Islam and were giving the religion a violent image, "so we will not support them". "They have no place in our country and the Americans know that. They know that we will never cooperate with them," he said.

Israel condemns "anti-Semitic" remarks by Malaysian PM
JERUSALEM: Israel Friday condemned "anti-Semitic" remarks by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad at a summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) which he is hosting in the administrative capital of Putrajaya.


"Israel reacts with disgust to these anti-Semitic remarks which are an insult to the victims of the Shoah", or Nazi genocide against the Jews during World War II, an Israeli foreign ministry official told.

"We hope that all enlightened countries in the world concerned with peace and democracy will protest against these heinous declarations," Levy Neno said. Another foreign ministry official, Nimrod Barkan told army radio that Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom would "launch a worldwide campaign against such remarks" but did not elaborate.

Israeli ambassador to Singapore Itzhak Shoham had earlier told: "We don't remember such expressions since the days of Hitler." Mahathir, addressing the largest gathering of Muslim leaders since the 2001 attacks on the United States, said on Thursday that all Muslims were suffering "oppression and humiliation," with their religion accused of promoting terrorism.

Islamic states pledge to fight terrorism in OIC summit
PUTRAJAYA, MALAYSIA: The world's Islamic states affirmed their commitment to combat terrorism at the end of the biggest gathering of Muslim leaders since the 2001 terror attacks on the United States.

They pledged to "contribute to multilateral efforts to counter this scourge," while making the point of including "state terrorism," a term usually used to refer to Israel's military actions.

The final communique at the end of a two-day summit of the 57-member Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) also rejected "selectivity and duplicity of standards in combating terrorism and all attempts to associate terrorism with a particular religion or culture."

The OIC called for the signing of a convention to "distinguish between terrorism and the legitmate struggle for the right to self-determination of people living under occupation or foreign domination" -- a reference particularly to the Palestinians.

Islamic leaders soften stand on Iraq in final communique
PUTRAJAYA, MALAYSIA: Islamic leaders called Friday for the restoration of the sovereignty of Iraq to be accelerated, after dropping plans for a strongly worded resolution which was opposed by Iraqi leaders.

The draft resolution had called for a timetable for the departure of US-led occupation troops and for elections to be held but this was opposed by the US-appointed Governing Council.

The council's interim head Ayad Allawi attended the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) summit in Malaysia's administrative capital and lobbied against the resolution.

The 57-member OIC also welcomed the US-sponsored UN Security Council resolution passed Thursday which authorises a multinational force in Iraq. "The conference reaffirmed the need for all to respect Iraq's sovereignty, political independence, national unity and territorial integrity," the communique said at the end of the two-day summit.

It stressed the right of Iraqis to determine their own political future and the need to "accelerate the restoration of the full sovereignty of Iraq." It said the United Nations should play a central role in post-war Iraq. The OIC also condemned recent violence in Iraq, including bombings against targets such as the UN headquarters in Baghdad and the Jordanian and Turkish embassies.

Islamic states to "revitalise" economic boycott of Israel
PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia: Islamic nations vowed at the end of a summit Friday to "revitalise" an economic boycott of Israel in retaliation for its "aggressions" against Palestinians and other Arabs.

The summit "stressed commitment to apply the principles and laws of the Islamic Boycott of Israel, and action to revitalise its means," said the final communique of the two-day gathering of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in Malaysia.

The communique said the 57-member OIC will "make the legislations, regulations and rules that organise the work of the Islamic boycott of Israel as part of their respective national legislations in force."

OIC resolutions are not binding on members but carry moral weight. Several Islamic states have trade relations with Israel, including Turkey, Egypt and Jordan. "The conference requested strengthening cooperation and coordination between the Islamic and the Arab bureaux for the boycott of Israel," the statement said.

The bureaux exist in all Arab countries to enforce a blacklist against Israeli companies and interests, as well as third parties dealing with Israel. But with the exception of Syria and Lebanon, they have been dormant since the start of the Middle East peace process in 1991.

OIC summit ends after it approved Musharraf's recommendations for OIC overhaul
(Updated at 2145 PST)
Conference of Islamic countries in Malaysia comes to an end after it approved new recommendations presented by Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf for overhauling the OIC and other new rectifications for OIC's effective functioning, said a report on Friday. 

Musharraf reaffirmed to continue with fighting against global terrorism.

No troops for Iraq yet, says Prevez Musharraf

PUTRAJAYA, MALAYSIA: Despite a new Security Council resolution authorizing a multinational force for Iraq, Pakistan is not yet in a position to contribute troops, President Pervez Musharraf said Friday.

"We have been saying all along that there are certain preconditions required before we contribute troops to Iraq," he told a news conference on the sidelines of a summit of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC). 

"One, that the people of Iraq must show desire for Muslim troops, or Pakistani troops.

"Secondly, that other Muslim countries should show a desire and should be

willing to participate in sending troops to Iraq."

Musharraf said if these conditions were met public opinion in Pakistan, which is strongly against committing troops to Iraq, would change. "Merely the passage of the United Nations Security Council resolution has not brought about any change in this environment.

"Until and unless there is a change in this environment, we cannot make a decision to send troops to Iraq," Musharraf said. Wasshington has asked three Muslim states --Pakistan, Bangladesh and Turkey -- to deploy soldiers to ease the burden on US forces confronting mounting opposition in Iraq, but only Turkey has agreed.

Musharraf presses for peace talks with India
PUTRAJAYA, MALAYSIA: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on Friday pressed for a resumption of peace talks with India as Muslim nations voiced concern over a potential war between the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours.

Musharraf said the two countries made progress since April by reappointing ambassadors to each others' capitals and reviving a cross-border bus service, but "we haven't started talking to each other."

The last formal talks were held in July 2001 at Agra in India. He said he had offered a immediate ceasefire on the Line of Control (LoC) dividing the disputed Kashmir state between the countries and proposed reinforcement of UN troops at the LoC to "satisfy Indian concerns" on cross border terrorism.

But the Indian response of accusing Pakistan of sponsoring attacks by Islamic militants across the de-facto border was "shocking," he told a news conference here on the sidelines of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) summit.

"It is high time that we start the process of dialogue because that ultimately will lead to a peaceful resolution to our disputes. Otherwise, this tension will continue to the detriment of both our countries and also the entire South Asian region," he said.

It is impossible also to improve bilateral trade ties because there is "too much of hatred between the two countries," he added. The rivals are in the midst of a delicate peace process after coming close to their fourth war last year.

The 57-member OIC, in a declaration released Friday, expressed alarm at India's refusal to cut troops at LoC and said it was "deeply disturbed" because nuclear weapons made the tension "infinitely more dangerous." It warned of the "terrible consequences of a war" and urged India to start a "meaningful and sustained dialogue process" with Pakistan. Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha on Thursday said talks with Pakistan had not begun because Islamabad had done "nothing at all" to stop cross-border terrorism in Kashmir. But he stressed the peace process was continuing.

President Musharraf meets Iranian President Khatami
PUTRAGAYA: President Pervez Musharraf Friday called on Iran's President Mohammad Khatami, a news report said. 

The leaders of the two countries talked for strengthening bilateral relations. They also exchanged views over the hurdles in solution of problems faced by the Muslims in the world. Meanwhile, President Musharraf will also meet heads of states of Tajikistan and Senegal. 

Crown Prince Abdullah slams extremists as deviants of faith
PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia: Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz on Friday denounced extremists as deviants of the faith and called for stronger institutions to counter creeping militancy, a foreign news agency reported.

In a speech on the final day of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) summit, he said that the crisis facing the world's Muslims was partly intellectual in nature. This emanates from increasing overzealousness, leading to extremism, which 
turns them to terrorism, he said.

Stressing that Islam is a religion of kindness, mercy and tolerance, Prince Abdullah said a minority of deviant terrorists should not be allowed to tarnish the image of Islam.

The bullets that kill women and children, terrorise those secured in their safety and destroy innocent communities do not come from rifles but from deviant thoughts and misguided interpretations of the great religion and its noble message.

He urged the 57-member OIC to strengthen institutions to help counter rising extremism among Muslim youth.

OIC Kashmir contact group criticizes Indian attitude 
PUTRJAYA, Malaysia: OIC contact group on Kashmir Friday expressed frustration over India's denying of talks with Pakistan on Kashmir.

Turkish Ahmed Neodet Sezer presided over the Kashmir contact group during the OIC conference, also attended by President General Pervez Musharraf. The meeting criticized the Indian evasion of talks for peaceful settlement of the Kashmir issue. 

The group urged India to cooperate with the world community, United Nations and Pakistan for strengthening the UN military observers' mission.

Musharraf meets Mahathir, Karzai, King Mohammed
PUTRAJAYA: President General Pervez Musharraf on Friday, the second day of the OIC conference, met the Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Moroccan King Mohammed. Meanwhile Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri called on the Saudi foreign minister, Geo news channel reported. 

President Musharraf discussed future of the Organization of the Islamic Countries (OIC) and middle east dispute with Malaysian, Afghanistan and Moroccan leaders. 

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri discussed with other foreign ministers issue of  the membership or the observer status in OIC to the non-Muslim countries. 

IBF suggests establishment of Islamic Free Trade Area 
PUTRAJAYA: OIC Business Forum session held on the sidelines of the Islamic countries summit suggested establishment of an Islamic Free Trade Area for promotion of the free trade among the Muslim countries, Geo news channel reported on Friday. 

It was called in a communique issued after the concluding session of the business forum session here. The OIC meeting also discussed the issue. In the OIC Business Forum meeting launching of a common Islamic market was also proposed after establishment of the free trade area. 

The declaration called on Islamic countries governments to re-formulate their policies and encourage technology exchange among the Muslim countries. The business forum will submit its recommendations to the OIC for official consideration. 

On Friday, the second day of the OIC summit Muslim leaders in close door meeting will discuss various issues. Afterwards a post lunch general discussion will be held. The discussion will be continued after the Friday prayers till 0800 PM of the local time. All resolutions will be finalized and joint declaration will be issued at the end of the conference. 

Afterwards Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed will address a press conference. President Musharraf will also possibly address a press conference. 

Turk, Syrian presidents meet Musharraf
PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia: Syrian President Bashar alAsad called on President General Pervez Musharraf here and exchanged views on middle east and Iraq, a press report said on Friday. 

Turkish president also met the Pakistan's president discussing bilatral relations and regional situation. President Musharraf will also meet various leaders in the concluding session of the summit. 

Russian FM meets Kasuri
PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia: Russia's Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov met Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri during the Islamic countries summit in Malaysia and discussed various mutual interest issues, a press report said on Friday.