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Musharraf warns of ‘ominous confrontation’ in Gulf

RIYADH: President General Pervez Musharraf warned on Wednesday that rising tensions in the oil-rich Gulf risk leading to a confrontation that could affect the entire world.

“Tensions in the Gulf region are shaping an ominous confrontation that could have incalculable consequences globally, regionally and among the Muslim Umma,” Gen Musharraf told an Arab League summit in Riyadh in a reference to Iran’s standoff with the West over its controversial nuclear programme. “We cannot remain helpless spectators in this and other crises and conflicts afflicting the Islamic world,” said Musharraf, one of several world figures invited to the summit’s opening session. “We need to join hands to work for solutions on the basis of fairness, justice and realism.”

Musharraf warned against the rise of extremism and sectarianism in the Islamic world. “Apart from disputes and conflicts, Muslim countries are facing great danger in the rise of extremist and obscurantist thinking and tendencies,” he said. “Sectarian and ethnic divisions are tearing the fabric of many of our societies and draining energies needed to ensure progress and development.”

He said “a handful of fringe elements” must not be allowed to malign the culture of moderation and Islam through acts of terrorism.

He also pointed at “the campaign in the West to defame Islam” and described it as “attempts to destabilise our societies through provocation”.

The president said there are forces scheming to push Islam and the West towards a clash. “These dangerous trends must be discouraged and countered to prevent a global disaster,” he said.

He called for collective efforts by the Muslim world for the resolution of the Middle East crisis. “We must set a timeline and work with the international community for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Al Quds (Jerusalem) as its capital, living side by side with Israel in peace and security,” the president said.

Gen Musharraf recently visited several Muslim countries in a new initiative to help peace efforts in the Middle East. He said Pakistan’s initiative was supportive of “other endeavours”. “We believe that the issues of the Arab world deeply impact on the entire Muslim Umma and our collective effort will prove to be more effective in addressing them,” he said. The president said the United States and Europe too have a historic responsibility. “More than any other issue, the failure to find a just solution of Palestine has damaged principles and moral content in contemporary politics,” he added.

Gen Musharraf expressed satisfaction over the conciliation between Fatah and Hamas and formation of a Palestinian national unity government. “We hope that this summit will help forward movement towards the goal that you had together stated in the Beirut Declaration five years ago,” the president said.

The plan called for full Israeli withdrawal from all Arab territories occupied since June 1967, Israel’s acceptance of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital and Palestinian refugees’ right of return, in return for the establishment of normal relations and comprehensive peace with Israel.

The president also referred to Pakistan’s peace efforts in South Asia and said the country was working to promote an environment of peace. He said a peaceful and stable Afghanistan is in the vital interest of Pakistan and the region. “We are also addressing the long-standing Kashmir dispute for a just settlement which is imperative for a brighter future for our region,” he added.

President Musharraf also expressed satisfaction over the summit meeting between Saudi Arabia and Iran and said it had a salutary influence over the Gulf region.

He said it was vital that countries of the region work together to prevent a new conflict that would have serious consequences for the region and beyond on the international scene. Also on Wednesday, Gen Musharraf discussed the Middle East situation, the Palestinian dispute and Pakistan-Turkey bilateral relations with the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. app

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