KUALA LUMPUR - Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat will not attend the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) summit in Malaysia this month, a report said today.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar was quoted by the Malay-language Mingguan Malaysia as saying Arafat would not be attending the October 16-18 summit over fears Israel would use the opportunity to take action that would threaten Arafat's position.

Arafat has been confined to his headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah for some 22 months.

"We fear that Israel would issue an order to shoot Arafat or prevent him from returning back home. Israel would do anything," Syed Hamid said.

Removal

The Israeli security cabinet formally approved Arafat's "removal" on September 11, with one minister even suggesting he could be assassinated, after declaring the veteran Palestinian leader an absolute obstacle to peace.

That decision prompted a widespread show of support for Arafat among Palestinians and widespread international condemnation.

The United States vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning the decision, but the UN General Assembly later overwhelmingly passed a non-binding resolution calling on Israel not to expel Arafat.

A total of 30 heads of state have confirmed their attendance at the upcoming summit of the 57-nation organisation to be held in Malaysia's new government capital of Putrajaya, south of Kuala Lumpur, Syed Hamid said.

The remaining countries would be represented by their foreign ministers, he said.

Iraq, who finally received the nod to attend the summit after Malaysia initially opposed its participation on the grounds that the country was under US occupation, will be represented at the summit by its Governing Council chief.

An Iraqi

"It is not a matter of recognising Iraq's sovereignty, but merely to recognise it as an existing nation and not alienated...and the person who is coming is an Iraqi," Syed Hamid said.

The government of mainly-Muslim Malaysia fiercely opposed the US-led war on Iraq and has called for a greater UN role in the country's rebuilding.

War-shattered Afghanistan has also said it will be attending the Malaysian summit after missing the last two meetings in Tehran (1997) and Doha (2000).

The summit will also be attended by Philippine President Gloria Arroyo and Russian President Vladimir Putin as observers, Syed Hamid said. - AFP