OIC Press Release

THE CAMPAIGN BEING LED BY THE UNITED STATES AGAINST IRAQ HAS EXCEEDED THE PROVISIONS OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS, SAYS THE ORGANIZATION OF ISLAMIC CONFERENCE SECRETARY-GENERAL

Dr. Abdelouahed Belkeziz, the Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, has addressed the Second Extraordinary Session of the Islamic Summit Conference which opened this morning, 2 Muharram 1424H (5 March 2003), in Doha, State of Qatar. Dr. Belkeziz particularly stressed that Iraq had passed through thirteen difficult years of blockades, sanctions, isolation, alienation and lack of medical care such that it has been utterly exhausted, and many no longer see it as a threat to anyone.

The Secretary-General added that the work of the international inspectors had proved that the Iraqi authorities were cooperating with the inspectors and that they were making steady progress. There is no need therefore, he pointed out, to truncate this positive progress and draw the whole region into a cycle of violence, destruction, chaos, and bloodshed.

Dr. Belkeziz explained that the campaign being led by the United States against Iraq had exceeded the provisions of Security Council Resolution 1441. The campaign, he said, had become an open call for a change of the Iraqi regime, for an occupation of its land, and for installation of foreign rulers there, as well as hints that such could be the fate of other Islamic countries. He stressed that these additions that were unrelated to the Security Council resolution constituted a source of deep apprehension and concern.

Dr. Belkeziz stressed that double standards and singling out of causes of the Islamic world for discriminatory treatment was unacceptable. The whole of the Middle East, he insisted, must be freed of weapons of mass destruction, especially the huge and sophisticated stockpiles in Israeli arsenals.

He drew attention to the ominous political situation in the occupied Palestinian territories where Israeli authorities, taking advantage of the world’s preoccupation in the region, are launching an arbitrary, vicious campaign for the destruction and annihilation of the Palestinian human and economic resources as well as their properties. The Secretary-General underlined the need to ensure international protection for these steadfast people for the implementation of the resolutions of international legitimacy related to their cause.

Concluding, Dr. Belkeziz said "I am certain that the Islamic Ummah with its considerable international political clout and with its potentialities and resources is capable of making its united voice heard in international forums, impose respect for its views, and protect its interests.., to spare us the trials and tribulations of war and ensure the supremacy of a peaceful, just settlement as a solution that safeguards our dignity and honour."