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Palestine needs
Islamic countries’ solidarity |
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A poster with the image of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak wearing a traditional muslim head dress in the same style Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat does, and the text "The Liar", similar to posters with the image of late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin hung before he was assassinated in 1995, hang in Jerusalem Tuesday, June 27 2000. U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, arriving in Israel Tuesday evening, is to assess prospects for a U.S.-hosted summit in which Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat would try to formulate the outlines of a final peace treaty due September 13. (AP Photo/Zoom 77)ISRAEL OUT COMMERCIAL ONLINE OUT |
June 28, 2000
KUALA LUMPUR (AP) - Muslim countries were urged Tuesday to show solidarity with the Palestinians during a crucial stage of negotiations with Israel in their quest for an independent homeland.
Azeddine Laraki, the new chairman of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, told a four-day meeting of the 56-nation group that Muslim nations should render whatever economic assistance they can to the Palestinians.
In a speech, carried by the Malaysian news agency Bernama, Laraki invited members to "reaffirm their solidarity with the people of Palestine in the face of the hostile Israeli practices and to bolster the stand of the Palestinian negotiators."
Laraki said that the Middle East peace process had reached a crucial stage following the Israeli troop withdrawal from southern Lebanon and moves to wrap up a final-status agreement on an overall settlement.
The international community needed to compel Israel to immediately stop new settlement works in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, Laraki said. The Palestinians want East Jerusalem as their capital and the Israelis say is indivisible.
Laraki said that the core issues of Jerusalem, the fate of Palestinian refugees, Israeli settlements and water resources |
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remained unresolved despite a deadline for a settlement being weeks away. Many believe it cannot be met.
The conference's outgoing chairman, Youssouf Ouedraogo, said the recent withdrawal of Israeli forces had raised hopes that a lasting peace was achievable in the region.
Ouedraogo paid tribute to the late Syrian leader Hafez Assad, describing him as an advocate of peace. A minute's silence was held.
Peace talks between Israel and Syria broke down earlier this year and many hope that his son and successor, Bashar, will be able to find a settlement where his father - one of Israel's most inflexible foes - could not. Laraki disclosed that the OIC's secretariat, based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, was suffering a cash shortage due to slowness in collecting contributions.
Noting the organization represents more than one-fifth of the world's population, Laraki pointed out that the budget for its secretariat was dlrs 11 million - and in reality, less than half that amount comes in. |
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