|
U.S. Praises Malaysia for Role in "War Against Terror"
By Kazi Mahmood, IslamOnline Correspondent
JAKARTA, Dec. 9 (IslamOnline) - Gene B. Christy, a top official of the U.S. State Department, on Saturday praised Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad for his role in supporting the war against terror.
Christy said relations between the United States and Malaysia have been on a positive footing since the events of September 11.
He said Malaysia's response to the attacks on the United States had been positively noted and there has been respect and admiration for Mahathir's stand and cooperation on the issue of international terrorism.
"He understood what the events of September 11 meant," said Christy. "His response to the terrorist incident, his recognition of the implications of that event was respected and admired [in the U.S.]. We have seen that Malaysia has taken a number of steps to deal with the international terrorist threat. In that respect, the Malaysian response and the Prime Minister get the credit."
Christy, who is director for the Office of Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Borneo and Singapore Affairs, said the United States was just as pleased as Malaysia over the outcome of the meeting between President George W. Bush and Mahathir; both men met at the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Shanghai.
Christy is on a familiarization tour of the region. He has served as the head of the Malaysia Desk in Washington D.C. and was also a political councilor at the U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur in the early 1990s.
Mahathir was one of the first Asian leaders to condemn the attacks on the U.S., but he also urged the superpower not to take any military action against Muslim countries.
He has consistently opposed U.S. strikes against Afghanistan, alleging at one point in November that the attacks by the U.S. looked like a war against Islam.
Mahathir, however, distanced himself from the Taliban regime, which his country never recognized, and from suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden. He accused bin Laden a week ago of training and funding some Malaysian groups in an attempt to overthrow his regime.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said on Sunday that Malaysia is a country that opposes terrorism no matter how other nations view the country.
"We definitely disagree with terrorists," the deputy prime minister said, stressing that no matter how other countries viewed Malaysia, "what's important is that we are what we are."
Badawi was responding to Frank Whittaker, press officer of the United States Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, who on Friday said that Malaysia might not necessarily face military action.
It was earlier reported by U.S. agencies that Malaysia was listed among countries targeted for Washington's next assault against al-Qaeda terrorists.
|
