A major Islamic conference on terrorism ended today with the Sept 11 attacks on the United States overshadowed by Israel's latest crackdown on the Palestinians.

A five-page declaration adopted by the 57-member Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) foreign ministers mentions just once the hijacked aircraft horror which shocked the world and led to the meeting.

The attacks on New York and Washington were blamed on Islamic militants led by Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden and sparked what the US calls a global war on terrorism.

The OIC declaration "reject(s) any attempt to link Islam and Muslims to terrorism as terrorism has no association with any religion, civilization or nationality.

It goes on to warn that the Islamic states are "convinced that the war against terrorism will not succeed if the environment that breeds terrorism, including foreign occupation, injustice and exclusion, is allowed to thrive."

The declaration then deals at length with the violence in the Middle East.

Israel condemned

It refers to the "legitimacy of resistance to foreign aggression and the struggle of peoples under colonial or alien domination and foreign occupation for national liberation and self determination".

"We reject any attempt to link terrorism to the struggle of the Palestinian people in the exercise of their inalienable right to establish their independent state with Al-Quds Al-Sharif (Jerusalem) as its capital.

"We reject any attempt to associate Islamic states or Palestinian and Lebanese resistance with terrorism which constitutes an impediment to the global struggle against terrorism.

"We condemn Israel for its escalating military campaign against the Palestinian people, including the daily brutalization and humiliation of its civilians...

"We emphasize the importance of addressing the root causes of international terrorism..."

The only other apparent reference to the United States comes in an oblique warning against "any unilateral action taken against any Islamic country under the pretext of combating international terrorism, as this will undermine global cooperation against terrorism."

This is seen as a reference to US threats against two OIC members, Iraq and Iran, described by President George W Bush as part of an "axis of evil".

The OIC calls for the convening of an international conference by the United Nations "to formulate a joint organised response of the international community to terrorism in all its forms and manifestations."

Mahathir's approach

The Islamic states say they will "work towards an internationally agreed definition of terrorism and terrorist acts which shall be differentiated from the legitimate struggle and resistance of peoples under colonial or alien domination and foreign occupation..."

The search for a definition of terrorism was one of the core objectives of the conference, called by Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

In his opening address on Monday he offered his own definition - "I would like to suggest here that armed attacks or other forms of attack against civilians must be regarded as acts of terror and the perpetrators regarded as terrorists."

Mahathir said this definition would include Palestinian suicide bombers as terrorists as well as Israeli forces who attack civilians.

But it soon became clear that the veteran Asian leader would not be supported on this at the conference, despite his credentials as a firm backer of the Palestinians against Israel.

Instead, the declaration says the states "unequivocally condemn acts of international terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including state terrorism" - a term often used to describe Israeli military action against the Palestinians.

The OIC also declared "commitment to the principles and true teachings of Islam which abhor aggression, value peace, tolerance and respect as well as prohibiting the killing of innocent people."