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Since the Islamic summit was being held after the 1973 Arab-Israel War, also known as the Ramazan War or the Yom Kippur War, Arab-Israeli conflict attained focal importance. Although the plight of Muslims drew the attention of all leaders, the Al Aqsa and Israeli attitude took centre stage.
Syrian President Hafez Al Asad was the first speaker who spoke mostly on the Arab cause and fervently condemned Zionism in Al Aqsa and Judaisation of Palestinian lands. He said that the conference should be a source of strength for us. Qadhafi in his speech deplored Israel and called for adopting a national policy by oil producing nations to help developing states.
Algerian President Houri Boumedienne also expounded on the Arab situation as well as the situation of developing states. He said that the battle was not military or political; it was about potential, including energy and oil. This potential must be used for attaining our rights. He said that through a well-drawn scheme the developed world was hitting our economies.
Tun Abdur Razzak, Prime Minister of Malaysia, condemned the Israeli occupation of Al Quds, but hoped that the Muslims will be able to regain their past glory. Similarly, Adam Malik, Foreign Minister of Indonesia, representing President Suharto, emphasised the need to attain a collective political force through the summit. He also spoke about using oil as an effective weapon of diplomacy, which had given a new perspective to the future international economic relations in the world, throwing light on the tremendous potential of united Arab action.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, recalling the events leading to the creation of Israel, hoped that the summit would be a source of strength for waging a joint struggle that would bring victory for the subjugated Palestinian people.
As the summit secretariat was giving final touches to the declaration, Bhutto began winding up the summit. After formal thanks he said: “We are a poor nation. We may not be able to contribute funds for the economic development of the Islamic world but with Allah as my witness, I declare here today that we, the people of Pakistan, shall give our blood for the cause of Islam”.
In all, six resolutions were adopted with a large number of clauses to explain the spirit of the resolutions. The first one expressed general belief in the unity of the Islamic world. The second resolution dealt with the Arab cause and the Palestine situation, calling upon the world community to ensure Palestinians’ national rights. It also demanded that the countries which sponsored the partition of Palestine in 1947 work towards redressing the injustices perpetrated upon the Palestinians. The third resolution condemned any change in the status of the Arab occupied lands.
In the fourth resolution the summit laid down six objectives: realising the need for eradication of poverty, disease and ignorance; ending exploitation by developed world; regulating the trade terms between the developed and developing countries for supply of raw material and import of manufactured goods and technology; ensuring sovereignty and control over natural resources of developing countries; and mutual economic cooperation among Muslim countries.
A committee was constituted comprising representatives and experts from Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Senegal and United Arab Emirates with powers to co-opt other interested Muslim countries for devising ways and means for attaining the above objectives and for the welfare of the people of the member states. They were asked to commence work and submit proposals immediately. The committee was to meet at Jeddah at the invitation of the Secretary General who had to fix a date of the meeting not later than a month after the conclusion of the summit.
The participants decided to direct their representatives in the United Nations and other international bodies to consult together with a view to adopting a joint, and agreed, position for furthering these common objectives.
The summit changed the mind of Shaikh Mujib who is said to have told some leaders that he wished he had not released the POWs. Its impact was great, but efforts for the release of 195 POWs facing war crimes charges were still not bringing results. At the Delhi meeting (Aug 1973) it was decided that the representatives of the three countries would meet at some appropriate time and take a decision. On April 5, 1974, the three foreign secretaries met at Delhi where India agreed to release these POWs without trial. Their release, as agreed, began at the end of the same month bringing an end to a very knotty issue developing from the East Pakistan debacle.
Some jurists think that for the fulfilment of justice they should have been tried but keeping the issue of debt liabilities and future ties in view, there was no pressure from Bangladesh. From Pakistan’s point of view it could have created some untidy situation for the government, especially the armed forces.
The Islamic summit ended with very high hopes and pledges but many observers were sceptical about the results. They had the experience of the Rabbat summit. And then every country had its own interests which overrode all decisions regarding implementation.
