ABSTRACT
The Jidda-based Islamic Conference Organization, the instrument of Muslim consensus-building, remained paralyzed by the apparent indifference of many of its 46 member States to the fate of the beleaguered organization. Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq 'Aziz took the opportunity to openly reprimand Libya for continuing to "threaten neighboring Islamic countries," and urged Libya to "learn its lesson" from the threat it faced. Standing Committee's meetings would discuss transportation, communications, and energy. It was the old dream of a Muslim commonwealth, a vision thwarted in every modern generation by the economic realities of dependence. Its realization was arguably more remote than an end to the Gulf war, the restored independence of Afghanistan, or the liberation of Jerusalem. Saudi Arabia's insistent claim to speak for all Islam stood in direct conflict with the simultaneous claims of Muslim rivals such as Iran and Libya. Egypt's role in propagating the message of a moderate Islam remained a modest one.
