Terrorism, extremism biggest threat: President
Emphasizes OIC restructuring, resolving disputes
By Our Special Correspondent

ISLAMABAD—President Gen Pervez Musharraf has called upon the Islamic world to reject terrorism and extremism through all means. “Terrorism and extremism are earning bad name to Islam and the Muslim world should reject it in its all forms”.
He expressed these views while addressing the second World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) at Jinnah Convention centre here on Monday. The President said that eradication of extremism was vital for elimination of terrorism. “Extremists are cementing the misconception of the West that Islam is the religion of terrorism,” he said, adding the concept was wrong. “Islam is a religion of peace, harmony and love”.
The President underlined the need for removing misunderstanding of the West regarding Islam. “Highlighting true image of Islam is the cry of the day,” he added. He called upon the Muslim leaders to make efforts to remove misunderstanding of their masses and West regarding Islam. “We will have to tell the world that terrorist and extremists have no link with Islam rather the actual Islam is that presented by Quran and the messenger of Allah”.
He said that Ummah was facing major challenges in the shape of poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, and science and technology. He regretted that there was not even a single university of international standard in the Islamic world. The President underscored that Ummah would have to focus on promotion of science and technology, engineering and agriculture.
Musharraf said that Muslim world was rich in natural resources, which need to be utilized in proper manner. “We should take immediate steps in this connection keeping in view the ground realities,” he advocated. The President regretted that the entire Ummah was lacking media of international caliber to propagate message properly. He stressed the need for bringing media at par with the international level.
Expressing concern over the governance system in the Islamic world, the President said efforts should be made to improve the governance system. “We have to modernize our societies rather than westernized,” he added. About economic development he said, we have to carry forward our policies under independent, de-regularization and privatization principles.
He underlined the need for giving political and economic freedom and authority to the masses to take benefit of their potentials. President Musharraf called upon America, European Union and international community to play their role in resolution of international political issues. He said it was high time for the resolution of political conflicts. “The world will disintegrate if the issues are not resolved amicably,” he warned.
The President underscored that implementation of his vision of enlightened moderation could help resolve all the international issues. He underlined the need for revitalization of Organization Islamic Conference (OIC) for conflicts resolution. He said that Palestine issue should be resolved that would pave the way for resolution of Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon issues.