Iranian President Mohammad Khatami on Tuesday called on Muslim countries to state all-out sanctions against Israel and clear the way for throwing weight behind the Palestinian Intifada.
Khatami’s remarks came during an international conference to support the Intifada, which opened Tuesday in Tehran with the participation of more than 30 representatives of Arab and Muslim countries, reported the official Iranian news agency (IRNA).
Khatami also called for “stern condemnation of Israel by Muslim nations, and the formation of a UN war crimes tribunal in Palestine to help halt the current Israeli-created violence which has thus far killed over 400 Palestinians.”
Khatami reiterated previous assertions that the only solution to the current Middle East crisis is the “return of all Palestinian refugees to their homeland and holding a multi-faith referendum on the future of Palestine.”
The agency said that the participants are expected to adopt a resolution in "full support of the Palestinian
cause," and denounce Israel's "political repression."
The attendees include some of Israel's worst enemies -- Khaled Mishaal, head of Hamas politburo; Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Lebanese Hizbollah; and Ramadan Abdullah Shalah, head of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Salah Zawawi, the Palestinian Authority's ambassador in Tehran had said that he expects the conference to be "fruitful" in gathering Muslim support for the Palestinian cause.
"I think our Iranian brothers are doing something very helpful for us by holding such a conference, and I see it as very positive," he said.
Meanwhile, Iraq refused to attend the conference in protest of the recent Iranian missile attacks on the Mujahideen Khalq opposition group.
Iran has acknowledged the attack, in which about 60 scud missiles killed six Mujahideen and Iraqis – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
