Malaysia has proposed hosting the summit after the upcoming Non-Aligned Meeting (NAM) which would be held from February 20-25

KUALA LUMPUR, February 16 (News Agencies) – Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad has voiced disappointment over Qatar's reluctance to support the staging in Malaysia of an emergency session of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) on the Iraq crisis, a report said Sunday, February 16.

Malaysia has proposed hosting the summit after the upcoming Non-Alligned Meeting (NAM) which would be held from February 20-25. It will bring together leaders or representatives from NAM's 114 member states, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"We are disappointed because so many heads of governments of OIC countries who are also members of NAM will be here and it is a good opportunity for us to meet and discuss informally so that we can have a common stand," Mahathir was quoted as saying by the Sunday Times newspaper, said AFP.

"Foreign Minister (Syed Hamid Albar) had in fact contacted Qatar before this but they were not agreeable to having such a meeting here."

Qatar now holds the presidency of the 57-member pan-Islamic body. Mahathir said Iranian President Mohammed Khatami had suggested to him that a special session of the OIC be convened after the NAM summit.

"We will try to convene a meeting of OIC members in Kuala Lumpur, either formally or informally," he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said a special statement on Iraq would be issued during the NAM summit in support of a peaceful settlement to the issue.

The statement would indicate NAM's strong stand against war, he was quoted as saying by Malaysian news agency, Bernama.

Abdullah said Malaysia would continue to call for the weapon inspectors to complete their work in Iraq.

"We will also call for the lifting of sanctions on Iraq if the inspectors are satisfied that Iraq does not have possession of mass destructive weapons," he said.

Asked on the United States' stand to launch military action against Iraq even if unauthorized by the United Nations, Abdullah said that it obviously reflected the arrogance of the superpower. "In a way, certainly they are very arrogant," he said.

The proposal to convene an emergency meeting in Malaysia comes at a time when the United States is engaged in a massive military buildup in the Gulf as a prelude to an anticipated attack on Iraq.

Qatar, a close U.S. ally, is likely to serve as the command center of a military campaign.

Mahathir said there was no clear evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. "All they (weapons inspectors) are saying is that Iraq is not cooperating. How the Iraqis must cooperate, I don't know," he said.

On Saturday, February 14, some 2,000 anti-war demonstrators gathered outside the American embassy in Kuala Lumpur to protest against a possible .U.S-led war against Iraq despite police orders not to hold the rally.

The protestors, who included Australians, Americans and Belgians as well as Malaysians, carried banners and placards bearing slogans such as: "No war. Stop U.S. aggression," "No more blood for oil" and "Drop Bush not bombs."

They chanted: "Destroy America. Destroy America. America is the devil. We want peace not war."

"We are assembled here today in Kuala Lumpur with the rest of the world in condemning the aggression of the United States and its allies," the anti-war activists said in a statement.

Australian Kate Parker, 34, who brought her 19-month-old baby to the rally, said they traveled from northern Penang state to show opposition to the war. "War means sufferings," she said.

Police had said they would take action against protestors if they gathered outside the U.S. embassy. Some 200 policeman including riot police armed with batons, tear gas rifles, dogs and a water cannon truck were deployed to guard the mission during the peaceful demonstration.

On Friday, February 14 Mahathir said that Malaysia will not support a war against Iraq even if the United Nations Security Council gives the go-ahead.

War was a primitive "Stone Age" way of settling problems and "we will object to attempts to attack Iraq, even if the United Nations decides that ... war on Iraq is allowed," he was quoted as saying by Bernama.

"This (war) is an act which kills innocent people. Women, children and old people who are not soldiers will be killed," said Mahathir, a Muslim leader who has been a staunch supporter of the United States-led war on terrorism.

"This is the way of people of primitive times. In the Stone Age the way of settling problems was to kill other people."