War against terrorism has 'double standards'<\/p>\n
Agencies, Kuala Lumpur<\/p>\n
Commanders in the war against terrorism have chosen only Muslim
\nenemies so far, raising concern among Islamic countries that a
\ndouble standard applies in the hunt for terrorists, Malaysian
\nPrime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said.<\/p>\n
\"It is a war against terrorism, but a selective war against
\nterrorism so far,\" Mahathir said in an interview with Japanese
\nmagazine Chuokoron, which was reprinted in Malaysian newspapers
\non Friday.<\/p>\n
Mahathir noted that not all terrorists were Muslims, and was
\nquoted as saying: \"There is no desire to go after other
\nterrorists, including in Palestine -- which is the most important
\nquestion for the Muslims.\"<\/p>\n
Mahathir has repeatedly accused Israel of \"state sponsored
\nterrorism\" against Palestinians.<\/p>\n
Mahathir is Asia's longest serving ruler and an influential
\nMuslim leader. Malaysia, a moderate, predominantly Muslim country
\nof 23 million people in Southeast Asia, is an important ally in
\nthe U.S.-led anti-terrorism coalition.<\/p>\n
Mahathir's government has cracked down on alleged local
\nIslamic militants, some of whom are suspected of having direct
\nlinks with terrorists involved in the Sept. 11 suicide hijackings
\nin the United States, which killed thousands.<\/p>\n
But he opposes the U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan
\nand has increasingly warned that the war against terrorism is
\nstarting to look like a war against Islam.<\/p>\n
In the interview, Mahathir said authorities had identified
\n\"about 50\" Malaysians who were trained in Afghanistan and were
\ninvolved with al-Qaeda, the network of suspected terrorist
\nmastermind Osama bin Laden.<\/p>\n
Malaysian police say 13 people arrested in December and
\nJanuary were members of a local Islamic militant group with links
\nto similar groups in Indonesia and the Philippines. Authorities
\nlast year arrested about two dozen people they accuse of
\nmembership of a different cell of the same group.<\/p>\n
Police are investigating whether some of the suspects arrested
\nrecently had contact with two of the Sept. 11 hijackers and
\nZacarias Moussaoui, who is charged in the United States with
\nconspiracy in relation to the attacks.<\/p>\n
Mahathir on Friday defended the use of a tough security law to
\ndetain 13 alleged Muslim militants, saying it was invoked as a
\npreventive measure.<\/p>\n
The premier said the 13, held under the Internal Security Act
\n(ISA) allowing indefinite detention without trial, would be
\ncharged in court if police gathered sufficient evidence.<\/p>\n
\"Where they are involved in definite crimes, if we can find
\nenough proof, we will try them,\" he told reporters.<\/p>\n
\"But the ISA is a preventive law. We detain them before the
\ncrime is committed. The whole idea is before he kills a person,
\nwe arrest him first.\"<\/p>\n
Mahathir said the men, alleged members of a new wing of the
\nMalaysian Mujahedin Group (KMM), had planned to overthrow the
\ngovernment to form an Islamic state.<\/p>",
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