Document 15

Statement by the Foreign Minister, Mr. Abdul Sattar at the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers, Doha, State of Qatar,October 10 2001  

Excellency Mr. Chairman,

Excellencies and Dear Brothers,

Respected Secretary General,

Distinguished Delegates,

Ladies and Gentlemen:

The terrorist outrage on 11 September triggered worldwide shock and horror, evoking condemnation of the criminal act, grief and sorrow for the victims, condolence for the families, and sympathy and solidarity with the people of the United States. Governments, including those of the OIC countries, voiced these sentiments spontaneously. States, including ours, supported the UN General Assembly resolution of September 12.
Our position is thus clear and emphatic. Yet we instinctively felt that individual statements were not enough. The magnitude of the crime and its circumstances, and the dangers that surfaced, called for a Special Session to proclaim a collective position by the Islamic Conference.
We need to tell the world that Islam is a religion of peace, that it considers human life sacred, and that it abhors the killing of innocent people. The eternal principles of our faith equate murder of a single person with murder of humanity. Anyone who violates this injunction is doomed to eternal damnation.
We need to explain this urgently. Hostile lobbies have been engaged in perverse propaganda against Islam spreading prejudice and hatred against the Muslim people. Muslim residents in Western countries are exposed to discrimination and danger.
This special session of the ICFM was therefore an imperative necessity, in defence of our collective interest. Our Brother and distinguished colleague, Excellency Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim bin Jabor AI-Thani is entitled to our heartfelt appreciation and compliments for the efforts he made to consult with the Member States in favour of an early meeting.
Having joined the fight against international terrorism Pakistan took up the question of the defamation of Islam. President Pervez Musharraf spoke to world leaders. Thanks also to the intercessions made by other Muslim statesmen, we are relieved that the United States and the European Union have contained the anti-Islam campaign.
In charting the course of policy in response to events following 11 September; President Pervez Musharraf acted as is to be expected of a leader. He embarked on extensive consultations with opinion leaders from all sections of the Pakistani society. He sought the counsel of farsighted leaders of friendly and fraternal States. He is grateful to them for their encouragement and support, as am I to Brother Foreign Ministers who kindly shared their valuable views with me.
Our policy is cast in the mould of international legality. Our Government decided we would do whatever lay in our means to implement the Security Council Resolution of September 12, as we had decided in respect of the resolutions on Afghanistan, namely, 1267 (1999) and 1333 (2000).
Excellencies and Dear Brothers:

You are well aware that Pakistan cherishes great respect and affection for Afghanistan, our neighbour, and friend. Our President therefore, sent high-level emissaries to Kabul and Kandahar to share our best information and assessment with the Taliban leadership. We apprised them of our reading of the dangers implicit in the situation resulting from the September 11 catastrophe, and the necessity of compliance with Security Council Resolutions.
We also took initiatives to promote contacts between officials of Afghanistan and important foreign countries in the hope that solutions could be found through peaceful means.
Regrettably, our efforts failed, and Afghanistan came under military attack. Still we continue to make all efforts to alleviate the suffering of the people of Afghanistan. We have been told that the Coalition forces will not target the people of Afghanistan, We hope that the military action will be limited to the aims identified in the Security Council resolutions.
Also, we have urged the United Nations to provide humanitarian relief inside Afghanistan so as to prevent exodus. Already our resources are strained and the continued presence of three million refugees has created onerous problems for our Government and people. Still compassion has moved us to admit over fifty thousand displaced persons in the past month.

Peace and stability has long eluded Afghanistan. The people of Afghanistan deserve an end to their travail. Time has come for the Afghan parties to show greater accommodation for national reconciliation.
Efforts need to be intensified for the promotion of a broad-based, representative and multiethnic government in Afghanistan. The UN Secretary General is reinvigorating his initiative. OIC could supplement these efforts.
Peace and stability in Afghanistan calls for a genuinely representative government taking into account the demographic structure of the nation and assure participation to its major ethnic components. Any attempt by one Afghan group or the other to impose its rule on Afghanistan with outside assistance, would be a recipe for further strife and chaos.

For the sake of the Afghan people it must be hoped that the current military operation will be short, that a broad-based government will then be formed and focus would shift to reconstruction and rehabilitation of Afghanistan. This time the world must not leave Afghanistan in the lurch. The Islamic countries would no doubt wish to participate in assistance to fraternal Afghanistan.
One other aspect merits our close attention. In order to eradicate terrorism the world community will need to address its root causes. These are basically political and their common feature is injustice. Failure to resolve problems involving fundamental human right in conformity with principles of justice and law breeds hopelessness and desperation that can drive individuals to extremism and irrationality.
The world community needs to look beyond the present and lay emphasis on the longer-term perspective. We must begin the process of eradication of the root causes of terrorism.
Palestine in the Middle East and Kashmir in South Asia have bled for more than a half century. Millions of people have suffered denial of their fundamental rights, and oppression and repression of their freedom struggles. Tens of thousands of innocent people have been killed by occupation forces of States. The world must ask itself Who is the terrorist? The victim or the perpetrator of repression and death?
In closing, we unequivocally reiterate condemnation of the terrorist attacks of 11 September. And even as the world community resolves to fight terrorism, it must simultaneously reaffirm its commitment to ensure justice. It must honour the pledge given in the Charter of the United Nations. Disputes and issues should be settled peacefully but they need to be solved, and solved in conformity with the principles of justice and international law.

A future better than the past can only be built on the foundation of justice. n

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