The D-8 Summit Issues Statement in Support of Iran

[Iranian Monitor]

The real headlines from the D-8 summit can only be gleaned from reports about it in the West. Those headlines relate to Ahmadinejad's reception among the people in these countries, as well as the failure of the US to convince even allies like Turkey and Pakistan to go along with its misconceived policy on Iran. Note that except Egypt, which was represented at the ministerial level, none of these countries were Arab states either.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1145961337308&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Iran willing to discuss nukes with anyone except Israel

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told the world on Saturday that he was willing to hold talks about the deepening international standoff surrounding his country's nuclear program with anyone except Israel and countries who hold "bombs over our heads."

He said he has cooperated fully with the UN nuclear agency and insisted there was no reason to be nervous about his nuclear ambitions, as he won support from fellow Muslim leaders for his contested uranium enrichment program.

The leader made the comments after hobnobbing with heads of state and prime ministers from Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Turkey and Malaysia and government ministers from Egypt and Bangladesh.

...the Iranian president, who accused the West of greedily trying to monopolize nuclear technology, was clearly among friends on Saturday.

The eight Islamic leaders - from Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Nigerian President Olesegun Obasanjo to Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz - released a statement at the end of the day supporting the rights of nations to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

"Our people need to do more to help one another," Yudhoyono said earlier in the day, adding that "proud" Islamic countries should work together to develop renewable and alternative energy sources.

"Our potentials are enormous. Our resources are vast. Great opportunities lie await," he said.
...
Fears that Iran is trying to build nuclear warheads were aggravated Friday, when diplomats said UN inspectors may have found traces of highly enriched uranium on equipment from an Iranian research center linked to the military.
...
"I have not heard that," Ahmadinejad said when asked about the claims, saying there was no reason for the world "to become nervous about nothing. The nuclear program of Iran is totally peaceful."

[Iranian Monitor]

The real headlines from the D-8 summit can only be gleaned from reports about it in the West...

When I read the AP report on this issue, I was surprised by the 'headline' they had chosen. The real headline was something else, and to be fair, some are grudgingly putting a more appropriae headline to the AP report.

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/05/13/indonesia.summit.ap/
Muslim leaders support Iran
Ahmadinejad says nuke talks won't be held under pressure

BALI, Indonesia (AP) -- Iran's president has won support from fellow Muslim leaders for his contested uranium enrichment program, as he told the world there was no reason to be nervous about his nuclear ambitions.
...

[Iranian Monitor]

While the US has been trying to demonize Ahmadinejad, the reaction has received in the Moslem world has not been as the US might have hoped.

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/6021f128-e3ae-11da-a015-0000779e2340.html

Iranian leader shows west the way in Indonesia

Soon after Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, the Iranian president, stole the international limelight with his rambling letter to George W. Bush last week, he notched another win in his global campaign to woo fellow Muslims.

While pundits around the world dissected his letter and Washington dismissed it, Mr Ahmadi-Nejad was setting out to seduce the people of the world's largest Muslim nation, Indonesia. And, when it all came to an end with his weekend flight home, he seemed to have succeeded.

Mr Ahmadi-Nejad's visits to two universities drew cheering crowds of students and a brief speech at Jakarta's biggest mosque drew an equally warm response. "He should be the role model for other Muslim leaders in the world," offered Budi Wahyono, a retired 61-year-old who was among the thousands listening.

Indonesia is increasingly seen by policymakers in London and Washington as an important conduit into the moderate Muslim world, where the US and allies might begin a post-Iraq campaign to win back hearts and minds.
...
But Mr Ahmadi-Nejad's visit has highlighted how difficult winning over the Indonesian "street" is likely to be for the US and its allies.

When Karen Hughes, the guardian of Washington's image abroad, last October visited Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University on the outskirts of Jakarta, the auditorium was half full, with much of the audience made up of diplomats and journalists. The students who joined her on stage asked combative questions about US policy in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Mr Ahmadi-Nejad, in contrast, packed the same auditorium last week and drew loud cheers from students with an address littered with denunciations of the west.

To many in the west, Mr Ahmadi-Nejad is a dangerous firebrand adding nuclear tension to an already unstable equation in the Middle East. But to Haji Echon, a 52-year-old bureaucrat with Indonesia's state oil company, Pertamina, he "is an educated Muslim leader and a pretty liberal person".

"He has strong principles and is brave," Mr Echon said. "With those attributes, he should be representing the Muslim community all over the world."