Prevent civil war in Palistine, say Muslim states in Baku

"Palestinian forces should not allow a civil war to take place," the foreign minister of Malaysia, Syed Hamid Albar, said at the opening of an Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) meeting in Baku, AFP reports.

Yemen's foreign minister, Abu Bakr al-Kurbi, said the victory of the Palestinian Hamas faction at parliamentary elections in January was being exploited by Israel. Like Israel, the US and the European Union consider Hamas to be a terrorist organisation.

"The victory of Hamas is a trump card in the hands of Israel, which does not want dialogue with the Palestinian government," he said.

He also called on international donors to resume the aid to the Palestinians that was cut by Western governments after the Hamas win.

"Today there are threats to blockade the Palestinian people. We demand donor countries aid Palestine," Kurbi said.

Foreign ministers of Islamic nations have gathered in Baku for a meeting expected to be dominated by developments in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and in Iraq as well as the crisis over Iran’s nuclear programme.

"We support UN calls for the Gulf to be free of nuclear weapons. At the same time Israel must also sign the nuclear non-proliferation agreement," Kurbi said.

Yemen supports the creation of a "joint nuclear centre for the peaceful use of nuclear energy," as a solution to the controversy over Iran’s nuclear programme, Kurbi added.

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