Islamic Conference Urges Muslims to Sever Israeli Relations.

By Dale Gavlak (VOA-Cairo)

Muslim leaders meeting in the Gulf state of Qatar have approved a non-binding resolution urging Muslim countries to sever relations with Israel. They say they are taking this action because of what they call Israel's war crimes against the Palestinians and

The leaders of the 56-member Organization of the Islamic Conference condemned Israel for using helicopter gunships and tanks against Palestinians in seven-weeks of violent clashes. Syria's president, Bashar al Assad, said the fighting is at such a dangerous level that it may cause a total explosion in the region.

The OIC leaders issued a resolution asking member states to cut existing ties with Israel and to stop all forms of normalization until Israel complies, the OIC statement says, accurately and honestly with U.N. resolutions dealing with Palestine and Jerusalem.

The leaders also urged the U.S. government to revise what they called its biased stance in peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. In a speech to the conference, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah said the United States bore a special responsibility for the collapse of the Middle East peace process.

Senior Christian clergymen joined the Palestinian delegation to the Islamic summit, saying they wished to provide a united front against Israel.

The Roman Catholic Bishop for Palestine, Lutfi Laham, said the churchmen went to Qatar to affirm Palestinian national unity with their Muslim brothers. He said Christians have shared the land with Muslim for more than a thousand years.

A representative of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem said there can be no peace without justice. Archimandrite Theodosios Hanna said peace in the Middle East can only be achieved once a Palestinian state is formed with Jerusalem as its capital.