KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 22: The 13th summit conference of the Non-Aligned Movement begins here tomorrow (Monday) in the midst of unprecedented security, with a big question mark hanging on its relevance to such international flash-points as Iraq, Palestine and Kashmir. Some question the very validity of NAM’s existence in the post-cold war period.

At the senior officials’ meetings on Wednesday and Thursday, prior to the foreign ministers’ conference, it was agreed that, given the large number of countries which are NAM’s members, any attempt to find a consensus on Iraq would be futile.

However, Iraq would be very much in the picture because America has accused Baghdad not only of producing weapons of mass destruction but also of helping terrorists, especially Al Qaeda — a charge denied by Iraq.

Diplomats who wish not to be identified say the Franco-German opposition to America’s Iraq policy and the support “old Europe” is getting from Russia and China suggest that things could move towards a multipolar world in which NAM could once again become relevant. Among major Asian powers, China is attending the summit, but as an observer.

A meeting on the sidelines of the summit conference between President Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee is not on the cards. Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha has already made it clear that talks with Pakistan are out of the question and the two leaders will not meet in Kuala Lumpur.

The last time they had met was at Kathmandu, on the occasion of the summit conference of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation in January 2002. The handshake, which the president virtually forced on the Indian prime minister, produced no results, and the military stand-off continued until late into the summer last year. At Almaty, in June last, there was not even a handshake, and all attempts by the hosts, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, to arrange a meeting failed.

The theme of the conference is terrorism. But Malaysia has made the Indians a little worried, because Kuala Lumpur believes that the causes that lead to terrorism must also be addressed. This constitutes indirect criticism of India and Israel. The Indians feel this stand takes Malaysia closer to Pakistan’s stand which believes in condemning terrorism by individuals and groups as well as state terrorism.

To be opened by South African President Thabo Mbeki, NAM’s current chairman, at the Putra World Trade Centre, the conference will then elect Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad as chairman of the 13th summit conference. Mr Mahathir Mohammad, who will step down as prime minister in October, will remain NAM’s head till the next summit conference.

Besides the Malaysian prime minister, who will deliver the inaugural address, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan will also address the summit, which is likely to adopt a Kuala Lumpur Declaration to be announced at the end of the two-day summit conference on Tuesday.

Established at Bandung in 1955, NAM was the brainchild of such Afro-Asian giants as Cambodia’s Nordom Sihanouk, Egypt’s Gamal Abdel Nasser, India’s Jawahar Lal Nehru, and Indonesia’s Ahmad Soekarno. The first NAM summit was hosted with 25 members in Belgrade in 1961 by Yugoslavia, whose president Tito was one of the prime movers of the concept of non-alignment. Yugoslavia has, of course, since ceased to exist.

The 80-year-old Sihanouk is now NAM’s only surviving founder- member. He is not attending the summit. Soekarno will not be there, but his daughter, Megawati Soekarnoputri, Indonesia’s president, will revive her father’s memory and role in founding the movement.

Also likely to attend are Cuba’s Fidel Castro, Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi, and Robert Mugabe, in world focus over Zimbabwe’s land and human rights issues. Prime Minister Vajpayee will lead the Indian delegation.

Pakistan joined the group in 1979, with the NAM membership crossing the 100 mark at its 12th summit in Durban in 1998.

Besides Pakistan, five other NAM members are members of the UN Security Council — Angola, Cameroon, Chile, Guinea and Syria.

Mahathir Mohammad, one of America’s strongest critics on Iraq, believes NAM must raise its voice for peace and against war, especially because non-intervention in other countries’ affairs is a principle of the non-aligned movement.