> Sam wrote: > When were they behind us? > Oct 11th, 2001 Doha, Qatar: --------------------------------------------------- MEETINGS of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference have seldom roused much interest, even in the 56 Muslim countries that it represents. This one was different. The world, shocked by the carnage wrought in the name of Islam, wanted to know where the religion's leaders stood.
There was almost unanimous condemnation of last month's terror attacks on the United States. There was equally strong rejection of any association between Islam and terrorism. The Taliban's call for jihad against America was studiously ignored. Rather than demanding a halt to American action against Afghanistan, as many of their people might have wished, the ministers pushed for assurances that the American-led campaign against terrorism would not spill over to other Muslim countries. Sheikh Hamad al-Thani of Qatar, stated that the roots of terrorism lie in the suppression by governments of national aspirations. The cycle of violence, he said, would never be broken without dealing with these aspirations, particularly those of Palestinians. Muslim officials were insistent on the need for a strict definition of terrorism. The consensus was that what most Muslim countries consider to be liberation movements should be excepted. This would include groups that America, and many of its allies, brand as terrorist, including Hizbullah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Palestinian occupied territories. The degree of solidarity on most issues seemed to surprise the participants themselves. In the past, clashes between countries such as Iran and Saudi Arabia have marred OIC meetings. This time even Iraq, a perpetual spoiler, was content to go along with the rest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Create robust enterprise, web RIAs. Upgrade & integrate Adobe Coldfusion MX7 with Flex 2 http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;56760587;14748456;a?http://www.adobe.com/products/coldfusion/flex2/?sdid=LVNU Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:224713 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
