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Muslim nations condemn US policy
In other news, Pope and bear. Tape at 11:00Officials from Muslim nations have denounced US policies on Israel and Iraq at a meeting in Malaysia. Members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference urged Washington to drop its support for Israelâs plan to keep some settlements in the West Bank. Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi compared Israelâs treatment of the Palestinians with atrocities suffered by the Jews in the past. On Iraq, he said the hopes sparked by Saddam Husseinâs fall had not been met. Ya know, peopleâs heads should explode when they indulge in this sort of flagrant hypocrisy. The meeting of the OIC was due to be held next month, but Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat called for it to be brought forward after US President George W Bush backed Israelâs plan for the Middle East. Under the plan, Israel would dismantle Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip but retain some of the West Bank land captured in the 1967 war. Mr Abdullah told the meeting in Putrajaya that the blueprint contradicted "the essence of the way to peace". In their draft statement on the Middle East, delegates said the plan was "detrimental to the peace process". The plan has also been fiercely criticised by Palestinian leaders, who say any settlement must be negotiated on the basis of UN resolutions. Mr Abdullah condemned suicide bombings by Palestinian militants, but said Israelâs "state terrorism" and "cruel assassination" of Hamas leaders had even more severe consequences. "Indeed the terror inflicted on Palestinians by Israel are beginning to assume the characteristics of atrocities once encountered by the Jews themselves," he said. Turning to Iraq, the Malaysian prime minister said: "The hopes and expectations of the international community which followed the ending of the war against Iraq on 1 May 2003 have not been met." "Gone are the joy and jubilation of some Iraqis (at) the collapse of the regime of Saddam Hussein," he added. He said the current violence was "nothing less than the fierce resistance of people against what is increasingly seen as an occupation force". About 20 of the OICâs 57 members attended the meeting - although only Pakistan, Indonesia and the Palestinians sent foreign ministers. And these "leaders" wonder why their tinpot governments are being toppled like so many dominoes? Go figure. Posted by: Zenster 2004-04-22 |
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