US President George W Bush's backing of Israel's latest strategy on the Palestinian territories could "wreck the entire peace process in the Middle East," the chairman of the world's biggest grouping of Muslim states warned today.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who heads the the 57-member Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), was speaking at the opening of an emergency meeting here on US policies in Israel and Iraq.

He said Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to pull out of the Gaza strip while maintaining some Jewish settlements in the West bank "ignores and endangers fundamental issues that are central to the conflict...

"Indeed, if forced upon the Palestinians, the Israeli plan can literally wreck the entire peace process in the Middle East.

"It is most unfortunate that the United States administration has deemed it proper to support Israel's unilateral disengagement plan."

Malaysia called the OIC meeting at the request of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat after Bush last week backed Sharon's controversial plan, apparently reversing decades-old US policy.

Honest broker

Abdullah urged Washington to play the role of "honest broker", saying Sharon's plan contradicted the provisions of the US-endorsed roadmap for peace.

He called on delegates to come up with new ways of approaching the problem, suggesting that if governments were incapable of delivering justice for the Palestinians it was perhaps time for a "people-based global movement to carry the flag for Palestine."

Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organisation political chief Faruq Qaddumi told reporters on the sidelines of the conference that "the credibility of the US is nonsense. They have deviated from the right routes.

"They have proposed the peace initiative but lately after the visit of Sharon, they have cancelled all these initiatives to revive the peace process."

The Palestinian ambassador to Malaysia Ahmed al-Farra said a comminique to be issued after the meeting contained "a tactical plan", but gave no details apart from saying it would call for economic and diplomatic sanctions against Israel.

Worsening situation in Iraq

Abdullah said the situation in Iraq was also "turning for the worse" and urged the US to table a resolution in the UN Security Council to give the world body a "central role" through a new and expanded mandate.

He welcomed Bush's pledge to abide by a June 30 deadline for handing some powers to an interim Iraqi government and called for an end to the Iraqi uprisings against occupation forces which have seen hundreds killed in recent weeks.

While "the rationale for the invasion has already proven to be without foundation," he said, "what is important now is to help ensure that the situation in Iraq would begin to get better."

Asked about the possibility of Muslim troops joining a UN peacekeeping force in Iraq after the handover, Malaysia's Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar refused to answer directly, saying "these are things that need to evolve.

"I think everyone is talking about the UN playing a central role. This is what we are trying to contribute. Hopefully there will be a new mandate in Iraq for after June 30."

Thirteen members holding key positions on various committees of the OIC are represented at the conference by ministers or senior officials.

They are Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organisation, Malaysia, Pakistan, Turkey, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Qatar, Iran, Iraq, Senegal, Guinea and Sudan. OIC secretary-general Abdelwahed Belkeziz is also present.

Syed Hamid said separate statements would be issued on Iraq and Israel at the end of the one-day meeting. - AFP