Badawi said that any attack on Iraq’s neighbor would only lead to another disaster

By Kazi Mahmood, IOL Southeast Asia Correspondent

KUALA LUMPUR, April 15 (IslamOnline.net) - Malaysia expressed deep concern over the U.S. intentions towards Syria, another Muslim nation in the Middle East that could face annihilation and be invaded like Iraq was, adding that it hoped the country will not be targeted soon.

Acting Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Monday, April 14, that any attack on Iraq’s neighbor would only lead to another disaster.

The U.S. has accused Syria of having weapons of mass destruction, of harboring senior Iraqi officials and of aiding terror groups fighting Israel in Lebanon.

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said before the war on Iraq, that he suspected the U.S. would attack Syria after it’s done with Iraq and that Iran, Libya other Arab and Muslim countries were targets of the U.S.

The hard talk by Washington against the Syrians, officials in Putra Jaya say, has proven the Malaysian leader right.

There were indications that Malaysia intends to use the Non-Aligned Movement and the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) to try bringing the U.S and other nations to terms and avoiding war against Syria.

Abdullah Badawi said Tuesday the U.S. had not raised the issue of Syria possessing weapons of mass destruction and being involved with Iraq until after its war with Iraq.

He said the U.S. often acted on its own in making excuses and determining who was wrong and should be attacked.

“That is why the Prime Minister (Mahathir Mohamad) always said that if this is the way (of the U.S.) no one is free.

“When it conflicts with U.S. interest the United States will act against them,” he said when asked on the possibility of United States attacking Syria.

Syria not being part of the “axis of evil,” is bound to be a victim of what Abdullah Badawi said was the decision of the all-powerful nation to label countries and decided who was good or bad.

U.S. Is Terrorist nation

Mahathir suspected the U.S. would attack Syria after it’s done with Iraq

Meanwhile, the Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), an Islamic group campaigning for a pan-Islamic leadership to rule the Muslim community world wide, said the U.S. aggression against Iraq was to control its oil and secure Israel.

“The U.S. is planning both economic and political domination in the Middle East, using Iraq’s oil and strategic location,” the coordinator of the HTI, Muhammad Ismail Yusanto said in Yogyakarta Tuesday, April 15.

According to him, the U.S. proved it was a terrorist nation by attacking Iraq the way it did, and that such aggression is to be condemned strongly.

“U.S. president George Bush and British Premier Tony Blair must both be labeled as terrorists and warmongers,” added a visibly angry Yusanto.

The U.S. central command in Qatar said Monday it was controlling the entire oil production facilities of Iraq. General Vincent Brooks told also said the U.S. had 1000 oil wells under its control in Southern Iraq.

Iraq is the number two oil producing nation on earth after Saudi Arabia. Before the war, it was producing more than 112 billion barrels, which is almost half the production of Saudi Arabia.

Iraq produced more than 2.5 million barrels per day under the oil for food program, something that benefited several European and Asian nations in the recent past, oil sources in Jakarta said.