OIC rejects war against Iraq but remain divided on US bases

DOHA, Mar 5 (AFP) - Islamic nations Wednesday joined a burgeoning international movement opposed to a US-led assault on Iraq at the close of a summit here that also exposed sharp differences among Muslim countries on how closely they should cooperate with Washington's war plans. The 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) pointedly rejected a US scheme to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and reshape the Middle East and said the ominous US-Iraq standoff should be resolved within the United Nations. But the one-day emergency gathering, which drew but a handful of presidents and prime ministers, highlighted lingering tensions within the Arab world and saw an acrimonious, public spat between delegates from Iraq and Kuwait. The summit had been called to forge a unified Islamic position, following similar moves by the Arab League and the Non-Aligned Movement, in the face of US and British threats to attack and occupy Iraq to rid it of its alleged weapons of mass destruction. "I cannot say it was successful in all measures," Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr al-Thani, whose country holds the rotating OIC presidency, said following the six-hour session at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. "But I can say there was good progress. There is a consensus and that's very important for the Islamic world." He said a controversial proposal by the United Arab Emirates at last weekend's Arab summit, calling for Saddam to step down and go into exile, was not discussed here and would be studied further within the Arab League. Baghdad has angrily rejected the proposal, which also envisages establishing a transitional Arab-UN administration in Iraq. However, Iraqi and UAE delegates held a brief meeting on the sidelines of the summit, which one Emirati source said took place "in the framework of the UAE ideas." In addition to voicing "total rejection of any strike on Iraq and any threat to the security of any Islamic state," Islamic leaders urged Muslim countries to "refrain from taking part in any military action targeting the security and territorial integrity of Iraq or any Muslim nation." Diplomatic sources said the summit discarded language in an earlier draft statement that appealed to Islamic countries to refuse to grant any military facilities to the United States that could be used to invade Iraq. The final declaration instead came out against active participation in a war on Iraq as several Gulf members of the OIC -- Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and Qatar -- have granted the United States such facilities on their territories. "There are US bases in all Gulf (Arab) countries," said Qatar's foreign minister, whose country is expected to serve as a command center in any war. Referring to US threats to topple Saddam and re-orient the Middle East politically, the OIC said it opposed "any attempts to impose change in the region and interfere in its internal affairs." The summit also welcomed Baghdad's cooperation with UN arms inspectors and backed calls for them to be allowed to continue their work and for diplomatic efforts to be given a chance to resolve the US-Iraq conflict. The Iraq crisis "should be resolved by peaceful means within the context of the United Nations," the statement said. The summit got off to an unruly start after a Kuwaiti delegate interrupted a senior Iraqi official, revealing the depth of hostility left over from Iraq's 1990 seizure of Kuwait. The intervention of Kuwait's junior foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammad Sabah al-Sabah, outraged Iraqi second-in-command Ezzat Ibrahim, who was in the process of accusing Kuwaiti leaders of "plotting with Zionism against Iraq." "You are small, a valet and a monkey," Ibrahim charged. "Shut up," Sheikh Mohammad lashed back, prompting an appeal for calm and decorum from the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. Ibrahim struck a defiant tone at the summit, vowing that Iraq would teach invading US forces "an u