"The most important is for the OIC countries to be united,” Syed Hamid

By Kazi Mahmood, IOL Correspondent

KUALA LUMPUR, October 13 (IslamOnline.net) - Malaysia Monday, October 13, urged the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) to move away from its current state where it seems crippled by its inability to cope with the times, according to Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar at the Putrajaya Convention Center (PCC).

“The organization is crippled due to its lack of political will to remove the constraints and deal with crucial issues,” said the Minister who was delivering his opening statement at the OIC Ministerial Preparatory Meeting at the PCC in the Malaysian capital.

He also urged the OIC to move away from what he termed “mere rhetoric”, as manifested by the resolutions taken all this while.

Malaysia is to become the Chairman of the organization that groups 57 Muslim and non-Muslim states with a large percentage of Muslim population.

It will lead the OIC for three years and it hopes to revitalize the organization and extract it from what many observers in Malaysia call a lethargically damaging state.

Syed Hamid also said the OIC was faced with problems due to its limited financial capabilities to implement its numerous resolutions and the difficulty in getting member states to fulfill their financial obligations.

The two-day meeting, chaired by Syed Hamid, will finalize the agenda for the OIC Leaders Summit Thursday and Friday, the most important event on the OIC calendar, which is much awaited by Muslims around the globe.

Malaysia ’s Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad will chair the summit, the first to be held in the Asia Pacific region since the inception of the organization in 1969.

Syed Hamid said that the OIC leaders were meeting in Malaysia at a time characterized by great challenges confronting the Muslim Ummah (nation), such as the threat of unilateralism, globalization and terrorism, the precarious situation in the Middle East and the uncertain future of Iraq .

The world, he said, was plagued by simmering disputes, internal conflicts, ethnic strife, dangerous diseases and foreign domination.

"Muslim countries have been sidelined. Worst still, we continue to be dominated by the big and powerful.”

The foreign occupation of Iraq must be brought to an end as soon as possible as desired by the Iraqi people, he said, echoing the earlier call by the OIC for the U.S. to leave Iraq .

Some member countries said action and not only words need to be taken by OIC to resolve the problems affecting the Muslims in West Asia , Syed Hamid told the press afterwards.

"Some said OIC must be willing to take action and implement our decisions," he added.

The 10th OIC Summit in Kuala Lumpur is the biggest conference of Muslim nations since the Sept 11 attacks on the United States .

"The most important is for the OIC countries to be united to have solidarity to ensure our voice will be heard," he said.

Malaysia earlier voiced its fears that the division among OIC countries would hamper the progress of the organization during its tenure, arguing that the Muslim world was not willing to be united on certain crucial issues.

In the corridors of the meeting, members of the International delegation clearly indicated in private conversations, that they would give Malaysia a chance to lead the group and solve some problems inherent to the organization.

On the sideline, a Malaysian associate professor working for the International Islamic University of Malaysia (UUIM) told IOL Monday that the OIC should get more teeth and be more aggressive to deal with issues affecting the Muslim world.

A professor in Islamic studies and a commentator on politics in Malaysia , Othman Chuah told IOL that two major issues will limit Malaysia ’s role as Chairman of the OIC.

“ Malaysia cannot bail out the other member countries of the OIC that seems to have the habit of delaying or not paying their dues to the organization.

“The lack of concrete action due to the reluctance of member countries to deal with issues such as Iraq and Palestine with stronger words and actions will also undermine the good work that is being done so far,” said Othman.

Othman added that the OIC has been in a lethargic state for too long. “It needs revamp, revitalization. Yet, I wonder where they will start! Besides the beautiful resolutions, the Muslim world is expecting action,” said the Professor.