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| Iraq |
| Muslim World Tries Again for Unity on Iraq Crisis |
| 2003-03-04 |
| ...and again...and again...and again Leaders of Islamic nations including a top aide of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein meet in Qatar on Wednesday at a summit critics say will only underline the Muslim world's diplomatic disarray over the Iraq crisis. The Muslim world in diplomatic disarray... whoda thunk it??? Izzat Ibrahim, Saddam's No. 2 in Iraq's Revolutionary Command Council, will be one of the delegates at the emergency meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Iraqi diplomats said. The 56-member OIC is the world's largest Islamic grouping. But only around a quarter of its members are sending heads of state to the summit, and some members have said they do not believe the gathering is worth holding at all. At least there's a couple of smart guys out there. Host nation Qatar said it hoped the summit would at least send a strong message to Baghdad and Washington that Muslim nations wanted every effort made to end the crisis peacefully. "I cannot predict the outcome of this meeting but we all hope we send the right message to the Security Council, to the Iraqis and to the United States," Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani told a news conference. But the omens are not good. Recent Muslim summits have been marred by The Arab League summit on live television. Talk about Must See TV. The summit ignored a proposal by the United Arab Emirates to formally call on Saddam to go into exile. Analysts said many Muslim countries regard the proposal as unwarranted interference which could set a dangerous precedent in the Middle East, where few leaders are democratically elected. UMMMMMMMM...Wait a second. Let's really think this out. On Monday, a meeting of ministers from the six Arab states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) stopped short of formally backing the proposal and said it needed further study by the Arab League — effectively killing off the plan. Okay. Further study. That goes in the Arab circular file. Iraq has already rejected the idea as farcical. At least give them credit for that. In late February, leaders of many of the OIC states met in Kuala Lumpur, and the idea of using an Islamic oil embargo to exert pressure on the West to avoid war was floated. But it was quickly shot down by Gulf countries. "We in Qatar, and I think all the GCC, will not agree with using oil as a weapon," Sheikh Hamad said on Monday. ...as it will hurt us big in the pocketbook. No more high roller suites in Vegas. Many analysts say the idea that the Muslim world can speak with a united voice on Iraq is fanciful — and that the Doha summit will simply give further proof of this. "Perhaps at long last, Arabs can accept that the search for consensus from Mauritania to Kuwait on anything other than vague generalities has always been and will always be an impossible task," Saudi Arabia's Arab News daily said on Tuesday. "Arab unity has become a charade and will remain a charade." And for once Arab News gets it right. Maybe they're wising up?....NAHHHHH. |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #3 mhw: How would we describe the Franquephonie? Love the way it describes itself. |
| Posted by: john 2003-03-04 21:22:46 |
| #2 Actually, the UN is a charade. The Arab League is a bad joke. |
| Posted by: mhw 2003-03-04 11:13:14 |
| #1 "It appears we're going to have a British waterworks with an Arab flag on it..." -- Claude Raines, "Lawrence of Arabia" |
| Posted by: mojo 2003-03-04 10:58:22 |