Pakistan Wants Islamic Club to Gain Some Weight

As the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) holds its first post-Iraq summit in Malaysia (Oct 11-18), there is frustration in Pakistan at the group’s impotence in world affairs, with a widespread demand for a radical overhaul of the outfit. According to one such report, “Pakistan will propose at the summit that an expert group be established to reform and restructure the organization with the objective to make the OIC a dynamic, credible and forward-looking body.” In an interview to the foreign media recently, the country’s leader General Pervez Musharraf said he wanted every Muslim country to contribute a certain percentage of its gross domestic product (GDP) to the OIC. Musharraf’s view is that OIC members who contribute financially to the organization would like to see results. “When somebody wants to put his money into something, he wants some results. Then people will be motivated to give money because the returns will come back to them also,” he said. Pakistani experts and politicians for once agree with their military dictator. They are united in their belief that the time has come for a major revamp of the OIC as it has failed to play an effective role internationally or in its key objective – forging pan-Islamic unity. Full Story