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Khaleda tells OIC meet on Lebanon situation
Political issues cannot be resolved by military means
8/4/2006
PUTRAJAYA (Malaysia), Aug 3 (UNB): Political issues cannot be resolved by military means-history has proved time and again the futility of this approach.
Prime Minister Khaleda Zia said this at the emergency meeting of the executive committee of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), especially convened to discuss the Lebanon situation, at a hotel here Thursday morning.
"Violence begets violence. Its continuation carries the danger of a spillover that will have disastrous consequences. This will surely add to radicalisation in the Muslim world. The latter, in turn, will increase difficulties for those of us on the side of moderation," said Khaleda.
Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi inaugurated the one-day meeting of the 57-nation forum of the Muslim countries.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz of Pakistan and leaders of Azerbaijan, Brunei and Turkey attended the meeting.
Foreign ministers, royalty members and senior officials represented Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Senegal, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, as well as the Palestine Liberation Organisation.
Khaleda told the meet that OIC should play a more proactive role in the ME peace process and Bangladesh would lend its full support to whatever course of action the OIC may decide to take.
Congratulating the chairman on his convening this open-ended session of the OIC Executive Committee, Khaleda noted that this is a time when the sovereignty of the brotherly member-country of Lebanon is being flagrantly violated. Its innocent citizens are being killed and their homes destroyed by wanton aerial and artillery bombardment by Israeli forces.
The Israeli senseless act of killing the innocent children has shocked the world conscience. The civilised society, she lamented, does not have any word strong enough to express its indignation.
The Prime Minister said this crisis has been thrust upon Lebanon when it was just struggling to move towards a viable national reconstruction mode, after decades of civil war and Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon.
At the same time, the Israelis have also been systematically destroying Gaza's infrastructure, inflicting damages on the Palestinian economy and undermining its democratic government.
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