Muslim nations boycott Israel-led UN meet

Straights Times ^ | May 30 2003 | John Zarocostas

[knighthawk]

They are retaliating against earlier US moves to prevent Iran and Iraq from heading talks on disarmament

GENEVA - Arab and Islamic nations - including Malaysia, Indonesia and Iran - have boycotted Israel's rotating presidency of the UN-sponsored conference on disarmament in what is seen as a largely symbolic move.

The snub was anticipated by disarmament diplomats in retaliation for the public pressure that the Bush administration exerted earlier this year to prevent Iran and Iraq from assuming the presidency.

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Washington considered both to be unacceptable and both Baghdad and Teheran turned down the presidency.

Israeli diplomatic sources were critical of the decision by the Islamic bloc to not participate in the conference during its tenure at the top which started on Tuesday.

'In today's world which places a premium on acceptance and dialogue, a policy of exclusion conflicts and is in stark contrast to the spirit and principles of the UN which we should all uphold and cherish,' one diplomat said.

In his speech as incoming president, Israeli Ambassador Yaakov Levy called on all members of the 66-country body to think in a creative and open-minded manner.

But on May 23, Mr Mohammad Reza Alborzi, Iran's ambassador and the coordinator of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) members to the council, circulated a letter - obtained by The Straits Times - in which he said permanent representatives had expressed their 'deep concern on the presidency of Israel' and 'decided not to participate' in the meetings. He emphasised that 'no official from OIC capitals would address the conference' during the one-month period that Israel held the top post.

Ambassadors from OIC countries did not attend the opening plenary while some delegates followed the proceedings from the gallery.

Others sent junior staff but declined to sit behind the name plates of their respective countries, diplomats said.

Senior Western diplomats summed up the action as essentially symbolic.

'It was a fairly low-key protest. They could have made more noise,' said one Western ambassador.

Israel is not a party to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the chemical weapons convention and other key arms control pacts.

Arab and Islamic countries have repeatedly accused the United States of double standards towards arms control for exerting pressure on Arab and Islamic regimes but not Israel.

'Compare the US approach to Israel as a proven and established proliferator with its approach to Iran, a country that the US suspects may have not fully complied with its NPT obligations,' Mr Amir Zamninia, director-general of Iran's Foreign Ministry, told an international arms control forum recently.

Behind-the-scenes efforts to get the non-aligned members of the conference to enforce a stronger boycott were blocked after objections from some Asian and Latin American states, senior diplomats said.

[knighthawk]

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