Muslim nations link better Israel ties to peace

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Muslim countries meeting in the Syrian capital criticised Israel on Monday but said they were open to better ties with the Jewish state if it took steps towards a "just and comprehensive" Middle East peace deal.

"We must not reward Israel for its crimes," said a statement issued at the end of the three-day meeting of foreign ministers of the 57-nation Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC).

"It should be affirmed that any progress on ties must be linked to how much the Israeli position represents a commitment to a just and comprehensive peace that guarantees the restoration of rights and occupied land."

U.S. President Barack Obama is to address the Muslim world on June 4 from Cairo, a seat of Islamic learning. Egypt is one of only two Arab countries to have signed a formal peace treaty with Israel.

The other is Jordan whose monarch, King Abdallah, said Obama was formulating a Middle East peace plan that could involve normalisation of ties between Israel and the whole Muslim world.

Ties between Israel and Muslim countries are mostly weak, the exceptions including Turkey, a secular but predominantly Muslim country that has military links with the Jewish state.

Syria, which supports the Palestinian group Hamas and the Lebanese movement Hezbollah, is a self-declared champion of "resistance" to Israel's occupation of Palestinian and Syrian territory.

The OIC said this concept was distinct from terrorism.