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Mahathir
Warns Against Escalating War On Terrorism
By
Kazi Mahmood, IOL Correspondent
JAKARTA,
March 28 (IslamOnline) - Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad
warned Thursday against escalating the war on terrorism to include
military strikes on Iraq, saying it would only foster a terror
backlash.
Mahathir
spoke days before Malaysia hosts more than 50 other Muslim countries
to discuss terrorism and its causes, the biggest such conference
since the Sept 11 attacks on the United States.
Malaysia
hopes that the terrorism discussions next week by foreign ministers
of the Organization of Islamic Conference will lead, ultimately, to
a broader conference by the United Nations.
A
key goal will be to seek a definition of what constitutes terrorism
and a terrorist. Dr Mahathir noted that their opponents have at
times branded several respected world leaders terrorists.
The
Special Session of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC)
Foreign Ministers on Terrorism in Kuala Lumpur next week will
discuss various natures of terrorism faced by the world today,
Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said Thursday.
This
includes acts of terrorism committed by individuals, organizations,
and groups and even by a state, he said.
For
example, the acts of terrorism by Israel against Palestinians who
are fighting Israeli occupation for many decades are considered acts
of terror by Malaysia’s premier.
Mahathir
said in an exclusive interview to AP that tackling the root causes
of terror - among them the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - had been
sidelined in the American military campaign.
Forty-eight
out of 57 member countries have confirmed participation in the
Special Session of the OIC Foreign Minister's on terrorism here next
week.
Foreign
Minister Syed Hamid Albar said the remaining member countries might
also attend the three-day session, which aimed to find a right
definition for terrorism, and its root causes.
He
said their foreign ministers would represent 27 countries.
"For
the OIC standard, it is a very high one," he said when asked
about the response from member countries on the meeting.
Syed
Hamid said many Islamic countries had suffered following the Sept 11
incident where Islam has been associated with terrorism and the
meeting would try to get rid of such misconception.
"We
hope at the end of the conference to come out with a declaration,
stating the principles and actions to be taken as well as follow-up
measures in order to be in the mainstream in world views as far as
terrorism is concerned," he said.
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