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Posted on 10/05/2001 11:15:46 AM PDT by StealthChild

U.S. MIGHT WAIT UNTIL ISLAMIC MEETING IS OVER

By ANWAR IQBAL

WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- The United States may wait for an Islamic conference to be over before launching a possible military offensive against Afghanistan's Taliban rulers, Pakistani officials told United Press International on Friday.

Foreign ministers from 57 Muslim nations are expected to attend the meeting called by the Organization of Islamic Conference in the Persian Gulf state of Qatar on Tuesday.

Moderate Muslim states backing the U.S.-led campaign against terrorism expect the meeting to favor their position.

Pakistan, which was among the three Muslim countries to callfor an emergency meeting of the Saudi-based OIC, faces a violent campaign by more than a dozen religious groups against its decision to back the United States. The protesters want the Pakistani government to support the Taliban instead.

Similar protests have been held in other Muslim countries and even old U.S. allies like Egypt and Saudi Arabia have urged Washington not to launch a military offensive without endorsement from the international community.

At least three Muslim nations -- Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan -- have asked the United States to fight the war against terrorism under the U.N. banner. OIC officials in Pakistan said several Muslim states also have urged the United States to wait for an endorsement from the OIC before launching an offensive.

Although the Taliban have appealed to the OIC to condemn "the U.S. aggression against a Muslim nation and support the Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan," observers say the ruling Afghan militia never enjoyed much support in the OIC.

Only three OIC members -- Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates --had recognized the Taliban when they captured Kabul in 1996. But then Saudi Arabia and the UAE severed diplomatic ties with the Taliban after the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington. Pakistan has also withdrawn its diplomatic staff from the Afghan capital Kabul but has not yet asked the Taliban to close their embassy in Islamabad.

"The OIC members were always suspicious of the Taliban. Even Islamic Iran does not trust them," said Khalid Rasheed, who teaches politics at Islamabad's Qauid-i-Azam University. "Whatever support they had has diminished after the Sept. 11 attacks."

Instead of the fellow Islamic government in Kabul, Iran supports the opposition Northern Alliance which is struggling to oust the Taliban regime.

However, Iran has said it will not support the U.S. military offensive, urging Washington to use other channels before going to war.

The proposal for supporting the U.S. position, however, may also be resisted by Far Eastern Muslim nations like Indonesia and Malaysia which, like Iran, oppose the strikes.

But major Muslim nations, like Saudi Arabia, already back the anticipated U.S. military strikes and are expected to lobby for it in the OIC meeting.

And officials in Islamabad hope that in the end, countries like Saudi Arabia will be able to gather most Muslim nations behind the U.S.-led anti-terrorism campaign, making it easy for them to allow the United States to use their airspace and military bases for strikes into Afghanistan, if needed.

Aware of the strong opposition to Pakistan's involvement in the war, U.S. officials, however, want to use Pakistani bases only as the last option. Reports from former Soviet republics in Central Asia suggest that the United States may use bases in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan for launching strikes against the Taliban. But even the Central Asian nations will welcome an OIC endorsement to appease their own Muslim majorities.

Even Egypt and Saudi Arabia, where public rallies and protests are illegal, fear that without visible international support, the war against a fellow Muslim country can turn the silent Arab masses against their governments.

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Copyright 2001 by United Press International. All rights reserved.

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