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For over 30 years, the Organization of Islamic Conferences (OIC) has attempted to forge the Muslim world into a cooperative body that works towards mutual goals. And for 30 years, this body that hoped to be a sort of “Muslim UN” has been all but irrelevant. Meeting in Doha, Qatar, the loosely organized group of 57 predominantly Muslim countries agreed on little more than a short anti-war statement that also called on Iraq to respect UN resolutions. But even that didn’t have much teeth, as several OIC members (Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia) are actively participating in the preparation for war against Iraq and successfully lobbied to remove language calling on member states to refuse to grant the US access to military facilities. Also not making the floor was a proposal by the United Arab Emirates calling on Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to step down to avert war. “I cannot say [the conference] was successful in all measures,” said Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr al-Thani. “But I can say there was good progress. There is a consensus and that’s very important for the Islamic world.” The conference wasn’t a total waste of time, though. There was a thoroughly entertaining and colorful spat between Iraqi Vice President Izzat Ibrahim Al-Douri and the Kuwaiti delegation, which had just called for Saddam to step down. “Shut up, you monkey, you traitor!” fumed Al-Douri. “Curses be upon your moustache!” This comes on the heels of another meeting of the “tribes with flags” (as a British historian of the Crusades once called these countries) – the Arab League. Meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh over the weekend, the League summit featured Libyan leader Moammar Qaddafi saying Saudi King Fahd was willing to “cooperate with the Devil” to protect his country. Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah retorted that Qaddafi was “an agent for colonizers.” Who needs Al-Samoud missiles when you have barbs like these?
Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.
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