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Before Meeting Muslim Leaders, Qatar's Emir Flies to Washington
DOHA, Oct 1 (News Agencies) - Qatar's Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, left for the United States Monday on a five-day working visit ahead of an Islamic meeting in Doha to discuss the crisis sparked by last month's terror attacks on the U.S.
The official Qatar News Agency (QNA) said Sheikh Hamad headed a large delegation, which included Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr al-Thani and the Minister of Finance, Economy and Trade, Yussef Hussein Kamal.
The Qatari ruler, whose talks are expected to cover the aftermath of the devastating attacks in New York and Washington, currently chairs the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).
OIC foreign ministers are due to meet in Doha on October 10th to coordinate a stance in the wake of the atrocities.
Qatar's ambassador in Washington, Badr Omar al-Dafaa, said Sheikh Hamad would brief his U.S. hosts on the Islamic states' concerns in light of the suspected involvement of Saudi-born Osama bin Laden in the attacks and perceived attempts to associate terrorism with Islam, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"Washington should listen to the Islamic world and heed its concerns and its aspirations for justice and fairness," the envoy said, quoted by the Qatari daily
Al-Raya.
In Jeddah, the OIC Monday reiterated its strong condemnation of terrorism, but withheld support for a U.N. resolution obliging member states to crackdown on the sources of financial and logistical support for terrorist groups.
OIC Secretary General Abdulwahid Belkeziz said in a statement that he backs "U.N. Security Council Resolutions 1267, 1333 and 1368" which have been unanimously adopted, and urged OIC member states to deal positively with them.
The OIC chief "expressed satisfaction about the positive cooperation of OIC member states with the latest international campaign to fight terrorism in all its forms," the statement said.
But, he "stressed the importance of distinguishing between terrorism carried out by certain groups and individuals, and national struggle by peoples for freedom from occupation and colonialism," the statement added.
Belkeziz said the 57-member OIC was prepared to participate in any effort aimed at "reaching a consensus about defining the concept of terrorism".
The chief diplomats of Islamic states will discuss "the issue of terrorism," attempts to "associate terrorism with Islam," and "the critical situation in the Palestinian territories," an OIC official told AFP Sunday.
The ministers will also examine "the tragic situation of Afghan refugees and the consequences which U.S. strikes on Afghanistan would have on the population" of the Muslim country, the official said.
The OIC has condemned the devastating attacks on New York and Washington that left nearly 5,700 people dead as "anathema to all human conventions and values".
But the prospect of retaliatory action against Afghanistan, a Muslim country whose OIC seat has been vacant since the Taliban seized power in Kabul in 1996, has divided the organization's member states.
Several Muslim countries, including Saudi Arabia, have urged the U.S. and Europe to deal with the root causes of terrorism before launching attacks against suspected terrorist groups.
Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz Sunday said, "all [sides concerned] should not focus only on fighting terrorism, but should look into its causes."
"The Palestinian issue must be resolved if we aim at uprooting the motives of terrorism in the Arab world... The position of the U.S. and several European countries toward the Palestinian cause is unfair. They are only helping Israel," he added.
A number of oil-rich Gulf Arab states, however, have taken measures to control the outflow of funds raised by Islamic charity organizations following the latest Security Council resolution.
Prince Nayef said authorities in the kingdom will "seal any channel that may divert [the charity funds] from reaching their proper destination," and urged local relief agencies to take this into consideration.
Kuwait's cabinet on Sunday formed a ministerial committee to "organize the activities of non-governmental organizations," which include the country's Islamic charities.
On Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi said that Iran wants the 57 members of the OIC to take a "clear-cut" stand.
"I believe we have to come up with a very clear-cut communiqué to express our views as OIC members," Kharazi said after talks in Cairo with Amr Mussa, secretary general of the 22-member Arab League.
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