PAS says roots of attack lie in Mideast injustice<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (AP): A senior official of Malaysia's Islamic
\nopposition party said on Wednesday that the roots of the
\nterrorist attacks in the United States lay in U.S. policy in the
\nMiddle East.<\/p>\n
Hatta Ramli predicted that Washington would quickly blame
\nIslamic extremists for the attacks, especially Osama bin Laden,
\nalready wanted for directing the bombings of U.S. embassies in
\nKenya and Tanzania and the warship USS Cole.<\/p>\n
\"We expect the U.S. to point the finger sooner, rather than
\nlater, at Islamic extremism,\" Hatta said. \"This will affect the
\nreligion's image and further alienate Americans from not just
\nOsama Bin Laden, but Islam as a whole.\"<\/p>\n
But Hatta said that the American investigation should also
\ntake into account the situation in Iraq, where a decade-long
\nembargo imposed during the Gulf War has stunted a generation, and
\nat the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.<\/p>\n
\"Only then can the U.S. find answers for yesterday's tragedy,\"
\nsaid Hatta, a member of the supreme council of the Pan-Malaysia
\nIslamic Party, this Southeast Asian country's largest opposition
\ngroup.<\/p>\n
American officials have focused on bin Laden as a leading
\nsuspect in Tuesday's attacks, in which hijacked jetliners were
\ncrashed into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon
\nin Washington.<\/p>\n
The Islamic party emerged as the biggest challenger to Prime
\nMinister Mahathir Mohamad's secular government in general
\nelections in 1999.<\/p>\n
In recent weeks, the government has detained without trial
\nseveral suspects, some of them party members, accused of
\nbelonging to an alleged militant group said to be waging a
\ncampaign of robbery, murder and bombings to install an Islamic
\nstate.<\/p>\n
The party has accused the government of trying to discredit
\nit. Hatta speculated that Mahathir, who marked 20 years in power
\nin July, could use the attacks to order more arrests.<\/p>\n
\"But he will be condemned by the world for using an attack in
\nthe U.S. to strengthen his rule in Malaysia,\" Hatta said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad canceled
\nofficial visits to Germany and Russia on Wednesday due to the
\nterrorist attacks in the United States.<\/p>\n
Mahathir made the decision hours after postponing the first
\nleg, a stopover in Britain where he had been scheduled to meet
\nPrime Minister Tony Blair, the national news agency Bernama
\nreported.<\/p>\n
From London, Mahathir had been slated to visit Russia for four
\ndays starting Wednesday to hold talks with President Vladimir
\nPutin, followed by a three-day trip to Germany.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, learning of the attacks on the World Trade Center
\nin New York and the Pentagon in Washington, Mahathir expressed
\nsadness but urged the U.S. government against seeking revenge,
\nwhich he said could lead to even more deaths.<\/p>\n
\"What I am worried about is there will be retaliation and
\ncounter-strikes,\" Mahathir was quoted as saying by Bernama.
\n\"Because of these attacks, of course, America will retaliate.
\nThis retaliation will lead to the deaths of many people and will
\nbe followed by more counter-strikes.\"<\/p>\n
Mahathir, 76, is Asia's longest-serving leader and has
\nfrequently been critical of U.S. dominance of the world economy
\nand of smaller countries on security issues.<\/p>\n
However, the United States is Malaysia's largest trading
\npartner and Mahathir says that the U.S. is a stabilizing force in
\nAsia.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/pas-says-roots-of-attack-lie-in-mideast-injustice-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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