The foreign affairs ministry has confirmed that preparations for the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) summit in October are proceeding o­n course.

Rumours have been circulating in Kuala Lumpur since Monday that the assembly of 57 Islamic states has been postponed until next April.

This has encouraged talk that Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad may shelve his retirement plans, scheduled to take effect after the meeting.

Preparations underway

The speculation was traced to the Free Anwar Campaign web site, which quoted sources as saying that a request has been made to postpone the summit scheduled to be held in Kuala Lumpur from Oct 16-18.

"FAC sources have indicated that the summit has been postponed. The more important question is, why?"asked webmaster Raja Petra Raja Kamaruddin when contacted yesterday.

"Is this being made at the request of (present host) Qatar or the next host country Malaysia?"

However, malaysiakini checks with the OIC desk in Wisma Putra revealed that the country is set to take over the chair from Qatar for a three-year term from October.

"As far as the (foreign affairs) ministry is concerned, the meeting is still o­n for October... there has been no discussion otherwise," said an official who declined to be named.

Another official, principal assistant secretary Mohd Puzi Dahaman, said preparations are underway o­n the logistics of the summit, which will begin with the senior officials' meeting from Oct 13 to 14. This will frame resolutions for the foreign ministers' meeting o­n Oct 16 to 18.

FAC cross-checks

Meanwhile, Raja Petra said FAC was currently communicating directly with the OIC secretariat in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to get confirmation of any postponement.

"Only Qatar can confirm this now (as the secretariat will have to refer to the current chair)," he said, adding that FAC has not been able to obtain any clear answers from the Malaysian organisers.

Similar questions about the status of the OIC was raised by Democratic Action Party national chairperson Lim Kit Siang o­n Monday. Lim had called upon Foreign Affairs Minister Syed Hamid Albar to clarify the situation and whether OIC was facing a "crisis of confidence" after the US war o­n Iraq.

"Any postponement of the OIC summit would also raise the local political question as to whether Mahathir's transfer of the baton... to Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, originally tagged to the summit, would go o­n as scheduled or whether it will also be postponed to April next year," said Lim.