http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=77988&d=7&m=11&y=2006
Tuesday, 7, November, 2006 (16, Shawwal, 1427)
Musharraf Urges Muslims to Empower Women
Azhar Masood & Agencies
ISLAMABAD, 7 November 2006 - Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said
yesterday that Muslim countries have to empower their women - both politically
and economically - as part of efforts to achieve development.
"We need to mainstream and empower the women in the Muslim world,"
Musharraf told the opening of the World Islamic Economic Forum, a conference on
development in Islamic countries. "They constitute 50 percent of the
population, generally. We must empower them politically and economically, but
it's easier said than done. We need to develop their capacity, first of all."
Women are guaranteed reserved seats in national and local-level
assemblies in Pakistan. Many of the seats are filled by women from political
families.
Musharraf also called for efforts to correct a perception of militancy
and extremism that dogged the Islamic world and stressed the need for a more
effective media and better education. "The extremism is on the rise as opposed
to moderation and this is an unfortunate reality because this is a critical
malaise which spawns terrorism." Musharraf also called for better governance
and economic modernization - which he said did not mean Westernization.
"We need to liberalize, we need to deregulate and we need to privatize in
a big way," he said. The World Islamic Economic Forum emerged from an
Organization of Islamic Conference business forum and is holding its second
session in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. Founded in 2003, the forum aims to
forge economic cooperation between the world's more than 50 Muslim countries.
Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi and several former leaders are
among hundreds of delegates, most of them business people and diplomats, at the
Islamabad talks. Musharraf, a major ally in the US-led war on terrorism, also
called on the United States and Europe to help solve political disputes at the
root of international turmoil and singled out the Palestinian problem.
"If we are trying to address Iraq and Lebanon and Afghanistan, we are
putting the cart before the horse. We must resolve the Palestinian dispute that
is the core which has led to Iraq and Lebanon and Afghanistan and everything
else," he said.
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