KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 11 (AFP) - Members of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) have contributed 118 million dollars to be channelled through the UN to countries affected by the Asian tsunami disaster, Malaysia has announced.
The 57-member OIC, of which Malaysia is current chairman, is the world's biggest grouping of Muslim nations, many of which have been criticised for a lack of tsunami aid pledges despite the fact that some affected countries are Muslim.
Announcing the donation late Monday, Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said claims that OIC members were not doing enough to help were inaccurate, the official Bernama news agency reported.
"This is not a question of religion but humanity. Aid will be given to those who need it and Malaysia has offered its expertise, besides a mobile hospital by its armed forces," he said.
"Malaysia, through the prime minister (Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) had played an active role by contacting member states.
"As such, we know they did their part and Turkey, as the chairman of OIC at the foreign ministers' level, had written to all the foreign ministers to contribute aid to victims of the earthquake and tsunami disaster in Asia," he said.
Countries that could not provide humanitarian personnel to help the tsunami victims could always provide money, medicine or equipment, he said.
"I think they should not just focus on whether they have volunteers or not. At present there are volunteers from many countries that have gone there and Malaysia is one of the countries that has sent volunteers.
"I think what the governments need other than logistical support is a lot of money for reconstruction of areas affected. I think not all the countries have the capacity to provide the necessary volunteers or humanitarian assistance."
Syed Hamid said the Islamic Development Bank had also pledged 500 million dollars in soft loans for reconstruction in countries affected by the December 26 earthquakes and tsunamis, which killed more than 157,000 people.
01/11/2005 04:38 GMT - AFP