Muslim Nations Urged to Pitch In

ISTANBUL, Turkey —  U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called on Islamic countries Monday to support the new Iraqi government, and the head of the world’s largest Islamic organization said member states must extend “financial, moral and diplomatic support” to Iraq.

In a message to a meeting of the 57-country Organization of the Islamic Conference read by U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, Annan said: “I appeal to you to respond favorably to the interim government’s request for support.”

“All of you have an interest in helping the country surmount the many challenges it faces, including the creation of adequate conditions for elections,” the statement said.

Most governments in Muslim countries were against the war that ousted Saddam Hussein and viewed the Governing Council that replaced his rule as a U.S. creation. An interim government is trying to establish legitimacy.

“We must meet any needs formulated by the new government for the purposes of running the country and its reconstruction,” OIC Secretary-General Abdel-ouahed Belkeziz said in his address to the meeting.

Baghdad expects “active and positive participation by Islamic countries,” Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said.