MALAYSIA: ISLAMIC NATIONS REPRESENTATIVES SAY CONTROL OF OIL SUPPLIES THREAT MAY BE EFFECTIVE WEAPON FOR WEST TO PRESSURE ISRAEL TO WITHDRAW FROM WEST BANK

Record ID: 343198

  • Title: MALAYSIA: ISLAMIC NATIONS REPRESENTATIVES SAY CONTROL OF OIL SUPPLIES THREAT MAY BE EFFECTIVE WEAPON FOR WEST TO PRESSURE ISRAEL TO WITHDRAW FROM WEST BANK
  • Date: 2nd April 2002
  • Summary: (W3) KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA (APRIL 2, 2002) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. WIDE OF PALACE OF GOLDEN HORSES HOTEL EXTERIOR 0.03 2. GV ISLAMIC CONFERENCE BANNER NEXT TO HORSE STATUE 0.07 3. PAN SECURITY AT CONFERENCE CHECKING LUGGAGE 0.18 4. VARIOUS, DELEGATES WALKING TO CONFERENCE HALL 0.26 5. SLV MALAYSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SYED
  • Embargoed: 17th April 2002 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA
  • City:
  • Country: Malaysia MIDDLE EAST
  • Reuters ID: LVA2V5P5GD7JDSYEXWSNTLQEBAUG
  • Story Text: Representatives of several Islamic nations meeting in
    Malaysia have said that using the supply of their oil as a
    weapon to force Western nations to apply pressure for an
    Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank could be very effective
    but would need the backing of all the states concerned.



    Delegates from Islamic nations are meeting in
    Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur for an Organisation of Islamic
    Conference (OIC) on terrorism which has been overshadowed by
    the worsening situation in the Middle East.

    Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi, when asked on
    Tuesday (April 2) if Iran would back Iraq's call to use oil as
    a weapon against the West to pressure Israel's hand, said,
    "I believe the Islamic world has enough instruments to use
    but it all depends on the collective decisions of the Islamic
    countries. If they decide to use oil as a weapon, certainly it
    will be very effective."
    He was non-committal, however, about supporting a proposal
    floated by Iraq to use oil supplies as a weapon to force the
    United States' hand.

    Iran said such a plan would require consensus among
    Islamic nations, while some Gulf Arab delegates said it would
    harm oil producers more than the United States.

    Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, facing a wave of
    Palestinian suicide bombings, has promised an "uncompromising
    war to uproot these savages" and crush what he calls a terror
    campaign directed by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

    Islamic nations, meeting in an atmosphere clouded by
    widespread outrage at Israel's attack on Palestinians,
    struggled on Tuesday to find a definition for terrorism.

    Having denounced Israel on Monday for practising "state
    terrorism", foreign ministers from the 57-member Organisation
    of the Islamic Conference (OIC), meeting in the Malaysian
    capital, were at odds over who else they thought was a
    terrorist.

    Palestinian Foreign Minister Farouq Al-Kaddoumi reiterated
    that the United States should stop Israel from occupying
    Palestine territories.

    "United States is fighting terrorism but it is giving
    green light to state terrorism of Israel. So we condemn this
    policy of the Israelis and their continuation of occupation to
    the Palestinians although the overwhelming majority of the
    international community, they have denounced the Israeli
    occupation," Kaddoumi said.

    Indonesian Justice Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra also
    concurred on the difference between Palestinians and other
    terrorists.

    "If it is a struggle for freedom, they are not terrorisms.

    But the problem is the Israeli military to kill civilians,
    Palestinian civilians, it is a kind of terrorism," Mahendra
    said.

    Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri Al-Hadeithi said it was
    up to the Arab oil-producing countries to co-ordinate their
    efforts to put a stop to the violence in Palestine.

    "This is up to the Arab oil-producing countries. But if
    they can, in general terms, the Arab world, the Arab countries
    have the right to co-ordinate their policies and efforts to
    stand by their brothers and Palestine to defend themselves
    against threats to their security because the Israeli threats
    are not designed against Palestinians but against the whole
    Arab world," Al-Hadeithi said.

    The OIC called its three-day meeting in response to the
    September 11 attack on the United States, aiming to redress
    perceptions Muslims were responsible for most of the world's
    acts of terror.

    But spiralling violence in the Middle East has
    overshadowed their meeting in Kuala Lumpur. Many Arab nations
    sent lower-level delegations while keeping foreign ministers
    at home to react to the crisis.

    Escalating tension has pushed U.S. crude prices up $1 to
    six-month highs of more than $27 a barrel.
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