ISTANBUL - The Muslim world is watching how
the United States will act on the stalled process for
Palestinian-Israeli peace and wondering how one of the main
sticking points, Israeli settlements, will be resolved, the
world's top diplomat for Islam said on Saturday.
Arab discontent over statements from Washington seen as
favouring Israel culminated this week when Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas said he did not want to run in an upcoming poll,
citing disappointment with U.S. President Barack Obama.
Abbas' frustration with Obama centred on the U.S.
administration backing away from support for demands for a
"freeze" on Israel settlement building in the occupied West Bank
and an endorsement of Israel's view that settlement expansion
should not be a bar to resuming peace talks.
"We would like to keep our hopes that President Obama's
commitments and good intentions will translate to reality, but
of course we've found that the whole negotiation comes back to
square one," said Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, secretary general of the
Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC).
"The sine qua non for any negotiation is the stopping of the
settlements ... We are still hopeful despite the fact that there
are more reasons not to be hopeful," he told Reuters.
The 57-nation OIC, based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, was set up
in the early 1970s when Islamic nations were divided along Cold
War lines. While the body has no direct political power it
represents more than one billion Muslims.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to
halt construction in the settlements, many of which the Jewish
state plans to annex under any eventual peace accord.
Palestinian elections are scheduled for Jan. 24, though few
are anxious to take on Abbas' role, throwing into doubt the
reconciliation of fighting Palestinian factions as well as the
peace process with Israel.
Ihsanoglu, a Turkish history professor who became OIC
secretary general in 2005, spoke ahead of an economic summit
that has drawn criticism from human rights organisations for
hosting Sudan President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who is facing an
international arrest warrant for war crimes.
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, Syria's President
Bashar al-Assad and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are
also expected to arrive to Istanbul on Sunday for the summit,
which is expected to focus on boosting economic alliances among
OIC member countries.
The one-day summit's guest list has added to concerns that
European Union candidate Turkey, an important regional ally of
Washington, is shifting away from its pro-Western foreign
policy, while distancing itself from traditional ally Israel.
Ihsanoglu rejected claims predominantly Muslim Turkey with
was drifting away from its western allies.
"I don't see Turkey's strengthening its relations with its
neighbours or the OIC countries at large as a substitute for its
relations with other countries, including European countries, or
the West," said Ihsanoglu.