The has been publicly called “Oh I See” (OIC) by Malaysian Premier for the laxism that has engulfed the Muslim world

By Kazi Mahmood, IOL Southeast Asia Correspondent

Kuala Lumpur (IslamOnline.net) - Malaysia will continue to press for an emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) to discuss the organization’s role in post-war Iraq despite the obvious lack of cohesion and leadership within the group.

Malaysia is pressing for the OIC meet on Iraq though Qatar, the country chairing the group until October this year when Malaysia will take over, is opposing such a move, Bernama news agency said on Saturday, April 26.

"We have asked Qatar to be more open on this matter. The meeting is to discuss a new government for Iraq, the role the OIC can play in it, Iraq's position in the OIC and the U.N.," Malaysia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Syed Hamid Albar said on Saturday.

Hamid said it was a strange situation with Malaysia and several other Islamic countries sharing the view that a meeting should be held, while others not wanting it, when the party involved was Iraq, an OIC member and when the conflict was taking place in the OIC members nations' area.

"Qatar asked us not to have a meeting at whatever level as they consider it still early. Qatar is saying the time is not opportune and want us to wait until the situation in Iraq becomes clearer."

This is not the first time Qatar and Malaysia seem to be on the opposite side of the fence when it came to OIC meetings regarding members of the Islamic organization.

“Oh I See”

The OIC is believed to be a toothless bulldog, without any weight and wisdom by many in the Muslim world. It has been publicly called “Oh I See” (OIC) by Malaysian Premier Mahathir Mohamad in one of his attacks against the laxism that has engulfed the Muslim world.

Malaysia is bound to take over from Qatar in October 2003 and it is been suggested by several parties in Kuala Lumpur that Malaysia’s outgoing Premier Mahathir would become the next Secretary General of the OIC.

With the accession to the position of Chairman of the OIC, Malaysia would have a greater say in the running of the organization. However its conflicting relations with Qatar may altogether undermine the good running of the OIC in the long run, some observers in Kuala Lumpur said.

The war on Iraq has showed the deep division that exists within the Arab World and this worries Malaysia, a country that is to act as the coming Chairman of the OIC, as the lack of cohesion and unity among Arab countries within the Organization poses a great challenge for Malaysia in dealing with OIC’s role in the aftermath of the U.S.-led invasion in Iraq.

Foreign Ministry Ambassador-at-large Tan Sri Hasmy Agam said last week that there were too many undercurrents within the Arab world that have created doubts in Malaysia on how effectively it can lead the OIC.

Whether this division and the constant squabbling with Qatar will douse Malaysia’s desire to be chairman of the OIC is still to be seen, an observer told IslamOnline.net on Sunday.

Hasmy said one of Malaysia's challenges in post-war Iraq would be its role in leading the OIC to make a firm stand on the restructuring of the war-torn nation, according to Bernama.

there was too much overflow of the unresolved problems within the Arab League into the OIC and this bogged down the organization, he added.

WMD Motion

Meanwhile, Malaysia’s Ambassador to Syria, Abdullah Sani Omar said his country can play its role in getting support from the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and OIC nations for Syria's motion that West Asia is free from weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

Syria submitted the motion to the United Nations (UN) Security Council last week in the wake of intense pressure by the United States on Syria following the fall of Saddam Hussein's government in Iraq.

The Malaysian Ambassador said as the Chairman of NAM and host of the October OIC summit, Malaysia can use its position to influence the member countries of both organizations to support Syria's motion, Bernama reported.

The motion could be viewed as an intelligent move to gauge United States' sincerity as Israel too had weapons of mass destruction including nuclear arms, he said.

"Allegations made by the United States have been refuted by Syria. Syria has raised the motion at the UN Security Council to make West Asia free from weapons of mass destruction," he said.

The United States has hurled allegations against Syria, accusing the country of giving protection for Saddam Hussein's family members and supporters apart from having weapons of mass destruction.

Indonesian sources told IslamOnline.net a week ago that Malaysia would press for and support the motion by Syria. The source also said Indonesia would give total support to Malaysia on that issue.

Syria’s move is bound to create a sudden interest and give a role to the U.N. and NAM as well as the OIC, and extract them from being redundant after the war on Iraq.

"We now see that NAM, the U.N. and other world bodies are just floating around and have no role at all. This has resulted in many countries trying to adjust on their own to the new situation," Malaysia’s Foreign Affairs Minister said earlier.