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Russia plays its hand in the
OIC
By Anil Netto
PENANG,
Malaysia - The presence of Russian President Vladimir
Putin at the ongoing summit of the 57-member-nation
Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) near Kuala
Lumpur is likely to raise eyebrows in Washington. It
marks a coup of sorts for Putin and could realign the
power balance in the Islamic world, which has become
increasingly suspicious of US hegemony.
Putin's
presence has been the talking point among delegates
attending the summit, which is one of the last major
meetings for outgoing Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir
Mohamad.
As a vocal opponent of the
Anglo-American invasion of Iraq, Russia won new friends
around the Muslim world in the run-up to the war. And
despite the United Nations Security Council voting
unanimously in favor of an amended US text mapping out
Iraq's future political direction, it is likely that
Russia, along with other war critics Germany and France,
will not contribute troops or fund the reconstruction
effort in Iraq.
Putin's presence, however, is
unlikely to dispel the lingering uneasiness in the
Muslim world over Russia's actions in Chechnya, and
delegates at the OIC are likely to call for a quick
start to peace talks between Moscow and the Chechen
rebels. Although a Kremlin-backed former Muslim cleric
won in presidential elections earlier this month, the
rebels have ignored the result and are determined to
fight against what they regard as an occupation.
This is the Russian president's second visit to
Malaysia within the space of three months, and once
again, it's not only strategic considerations that Putin
will have in mind during his visit. If all goes well,
there could be more business spin-offs among other
Islamic nations, who are casting a wary eye on US
intentions in its "war on terror".
In August,
Putin visited Kuala Lumpur for talks with Mahathir and
to sign a US$900 million deal to supply Malaysia with 18
Russian-made Sukhoi Su-30 MKN fighter jets. The deal
also came with an irresistible perk for record-hungry
Malaysians: as part of the agreement, Malaysia will get
to send a cosmonaut to space after 18 months' of
training in Russia - seen by local elites as another
feather in the cap for Malaysia. The deal was hailed in
Russia as a "contract that would open the regional
market to Russia", and it marked a warming of relations
between Putin and Mahathir, who visited Russia in March.
Malaysia is chair of the Non-Aligned Movement and the
OIC and this cozying up between the two countries could
set the stage for Russia to extend its sphere of
influence.
Significantly, Philippine President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who also has to deal with
Muslim grievances in the war-torn south of her country,
is the other main non-OIC leader attending the summit.
It's the first invitation for a Philippine head of
state, and Arroyo is likely to lobby for more support in
dealing with insurgency in Mindanao and in her "fight
against terrorism".
But while Putin makes
inroads into Southeast Asia, the United States will not
remain idle. President George W Bush is likely to use
his visit to Thailand over the weekend to reaffirm
US-Thai military and security cooperation and announce
the designation of Thailand as a major non-NATO (North
Atlantic Treaty Organization) ally.
Both Putin
and Arroyo are in Malaysia at the invitation of the host
nation. Although there was some controversy over whether
the Philippines' bid for OIC observer status had been
rejected, Malaysia's ambassador to the Philippines was
reported as having strongly denied a Philippine Inquirer
report that the OIC's Committee of Eight had rejected
the Philippine's bid.
This is the first time the
OIC summit is being held in the Asia-Pacific region. And
it has drawn the most Muslim leaders - 33 - since the
OIC was formed in 1969. It is also being seen as a
farewell for Mahathir, who steps down on October 31 in
favor of his deputy, Abdullah Badawi.
While
delegates will no doubt rail at the hypocrisy and double
standards of the West over human rights and democracy,
critical outsiders say they will also need to take a
long hard look at their own societies. The political
climate in many Muslim societies reflects "an obvious
bias in favor of a culture of violence, force and power;
a cult of leadership centered around either despotic
leaders or theological elites; ever-widening gaps of
income and uneven development; and a host of other ills
associated with the developing world", said Malaysian
academic Farish Noor in a paper presented at the OIC
business forum.
In Malaysia, for example,
Mahathir's former deputy Anwar Ibrahim, once highly
regarded around the Islamic world, languishes in jail,
serving terms totaling 15 years after being convicted
for abuse of power and corruption in widely criticized
trials. His last avenue for appeal is pending.
Consequently, the Malaysian organizers, probably
in a bid to ward off domestic criticism, have invited
Abdul Hadi Awang, the president of the conservative
opposition Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS), who has
accepted the invitation. Hadi is also chief minister of
the east-coast state of Terengganu, which two days ago
announced that it would enforce Islamic shariah
(hudud and qisas) laws on October 27. Arguing
that the laws would not apply to non-Muslims, he
challenged those who felt the laws were against the
federal constitution to bring the matter to court. The
move is unlikely to endear PAS to non-Muslim voters,
however.
The OIC summit brings together leaders
who are no stranger to controversy and criticism. True
to form, Mahathir has already earned the ire of the
European Union, the United States and Australia over his
criticism of the Jews, which stems from his persistent
refusal or failure to distinguish between sweeping
remarks against the Jews and legitimate criticism over
Israel's aggressive foreign policy and its occupation of
Palestinian territories.
Indeed, the OIC's
failure to achieve anything tangible over Palestine
reflects badly on the Arab world - a fact conceded by
Mahathir. If anything, it is the one measure that will
be widely used to gauge the success or failure of the
OIC in the long run. Many OIC member leaders are
perceived within the Islamic world to be too
undemocratic, corrupt, and beholden to the United States
- characteristics that hinder any meaningful united
attempts to seek legitimate justice for the
long-suffering Palestinians, for instance.
Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri,
meanwhile, is embroiled in a widely criticized military
offensive in the province of Aceh that has displaced
thousands of residents and created tremendous hardship.
Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf,
still unelected after taking power through a coup,
raised the Kashmir issue at the summit, arguing that the
plight of the people of Jammu and Kashmir represented a
"core Islamic cause". He also took pot shots at India
urging the OIC to "ask India to reconsider its
rejectionist and belligerent posture".
Though
Putin may be holding court in Putrajaya, the US
influence is never far away. Delegates are likely to be
in two minds over the presence of a bevy of US-backed
leaders such as Afghan Interim Chairman Hamid Karzai and
members of Iraq's Governing Council.
Passing
largely unnoticed was a report pointing out that the
Iraqi Governing Council had rejected the participation
of peacekeeping troops from all Islamic countries, not
just neighboring countries such as Turkey. A member of
the council attending the OIC summit said this was to
allow Iraqis, who are working with "coalition forces",
to take charge of their own security as the first step
toward responsibility over its future. Such statements,
however, will do nothing to dispel cynicism over who is
really calling the shots in Kabul and Baghdad.
(Copyright 2003 Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All
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