KUALA LUMPUR, April 12 (IslamOnline) - Malaysia will send its troops to Palestine only if the United Nations requests help to restore peace and maintain security while peace talks between the feuding parties take place, news reports said on Thursday.
Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar, however, said it could only be done if both parties agreed to it and needed the world organisation to be there.
At this point, peace talks looked almost impossible if Israeli troops were still occupying Palestinian territories, he said.
“The United Nations must not ignore the mandate given by countries throughout the world to take stern action against Israel,’’ he told a press conference at his office in Putrajaya.
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said on Friday that the dispatch of an international force to the occupied Palestinian Territories "can no longer be deferred".
On Wednesday, the UN Security Council endorsed a statement by envoys calling on Israel to withdraw from Palestinian cities, pressing Palestinian President Yasser Arafat to rein in “terror attacks.’’
The 15-member council said it “supports the joint statement issued in Madrid’’ by the envoys from the United States, Russia, European Union and the United Nations.
Albar said the United Nations should act against the country that failed to adhere to its resolution that is by imposing more pressure.
“This is not a question about vengeance or anything like that. This is about what needs to be done.’’
Indonesia is also considering sending troops to Palestine if the UN decides to do so.
Both Malaysia and Indonesia support the Palestinian struggle for a homeland.
Malaysia has called on the U.S. and the UN to condemn Israel for what it calls “state terrorism”.
Both countries have also said they cannot go to war with Israel but are clearly behind the Palestinians.
Malaysia and Indonesia has a reputation of sending troops in troubled areas, such as Bosnia and Somalia, in the past.
