Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : America Under Siege: The End of Innocence -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Captain Jack who wrote (6837)	10/10/2001 11:22:49 AM
From: Lola	Respond to of 27712

Islamic states avoid condemnation of U.S. strikes Wednesday October 10, 5:44 PM By Rawhi Abeidoh DUBAI (Reuters) - The world's largest Islamic body expressed concern on Wednesday at the prospect of civilian casualties in Afghanistan but steered clear of condemning U.S. strikes against the Taliban rulers sheltering Osama bin Laden. A communiquÃ© issued at the end of an emergency meeting of foreign ministers of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) said member countries representing 1.2 billion Muslims strongly condemned the September 11 attacks. "The conference also expressed its concern that confronting terrorism could lead to casualties among innocent civilians in Afghanistan and asserted the importance of assuring the territorial integrity of Afghanistan and its Islamic character," the communiquÃ© added. The 56-nation OIC, meeting in the Gulf state of Qatar, said the conference expressed its rejection of the targeting of any Arab country under the pretext of combating terrorism. It also rejected aggression against any Islamic state -- a phrase seen by delegates as referring to attacks on Afghan civilians rather than on alleged terrorists or the Taliban. The Taliban have stirred strong criticism from many Muslim nations for their extremist ideology and only one country, OIC member Pakistan, recognises them as Afghanistan's government. The communiquÃ© issued by the meeting, called by Iran to discuss the crisis over the Septmber 11 attacks, said: "These terrorist acts contradict the teaching of all religions and human and moral values." However, there was no enthusiasm for the strikes launched on Sunday on Afghanistan by U.S. and British forces hunting bin Laden, chief suspect for the attacks in New York and Washington that killed more than 5,500 people. SOLID EVIDENCE "We would have liked to see an internationally-led (anti-terrorism) campaign," said Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, when asked about the U.S.-led strikes. "Terrorism is a global phenomenon and any action against it is best addressed through the United Nations and the international community," he said, speaking on behalf of the core Arab group. The emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, current president of the OIC, opened the meeting by saying the action should be based on solid evidence and must not touch innocent civilians. "We assert our utter rejection of these attacks and assert that confronting them must not touch innocent civilians and must not extend beyond those who carried out those attacks," he said. "This requires the existence of irrefutable evidence against the perpetrators and that military operations, after announcing the evidence, be limited to them alone," he added. The U.S.-led assault on Afghanistan has enraged many Muslims around the world who sympathise with the impoverished Afghans. FEW CRITICISE STRIKES But their governments have remained largely silent after years of criticising the ruling Taliban's extremist ideology and its sheltering of militants such as bin Laden, who wants to purge Islamic countries of their pro-Western leaders. Oil-rich Gulf Arab states pledged $27 million to an emergency fund for Afghan refugees proposed by Qatar's Sheikh Hamad, and delegates expected more from other OIC members. Only Syria, Iraq and Iran -- known for their anti-American stance -- have publicly criticised the U.S.-British strikes. Iraq and Syria in particular have also expressed concern at President George Bush's warning that the United States might target other countries in its anti-terror campaign. Palestinian President Yasser Arafat also called for international action to rid the world of terrorism and criticised Israel for exploiting the attacks on New York and Washington to launch new offensives against Palestinians.