War against terrorism has 'double standards'

War against terrorism has 'double standards'

Agencies, Kuala Lumpur

Commanders in the war against terrorism have chosen only Muslim
enemies so far, raising concern among Islamic countries that a
double standard applies in the hunt for terrorists, Malaysian
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said.

"It is a war against terrorism, but a selective war against
terrorism so far," Mahathir said in an interview with Japanese
magazine Chuokoron, which was reprinted in Malaysian newspapers
on Friday.

Mahathir noted that not all terrorists were Muslims, and was
quoted as saying: "There is no desire to go after other
terrorists, including in Palestine -- which is the most important
question for the Muslims."

Mahathir has repeatedly accused Israel of "state sponsored
terrorism" against Palestinians.

Mahathir is Asia's longest serving ruler and an influential
Muslim leader. Malaysia, a moderate, predominantly Muslim country
of 23 million people in Southeast Asia, is an important ally in
the U.S.-led anti-terrorism coalition.

Mahathir's government has cracked down on alleged local
Islamic militants, some of whom are suspected of having direct
links with terrorists involved in the Sept. 11 suicide hijackings
in the United States, which killed thousands.

But he opposes the U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan
and has increasingly warned that the war against terrorism is
starting to look like a war against Islam.

In the interview, Mahathir said authorities had identified
"about 50" Malaysians who were trained in Afghanistan and were
involved with al-Qaeda, the network of suspected terrorist
mastermind Osama bin Laden.

Malaysian police say 13 people arrested in December and
January were members of a local Islamic militant group with links
to similar groups in Indonesia and the Philippines. Authorities
last year arrested about two dozen people they accuse of
membership of a different cell of the same group.

Police are investigating whether some of the suspects arrested
recently had contact with two of the Sept. 11 hijackers and
Zacarias Moussaoui, who is charged in the United States with
conspiracy in relation to the attacks.

Mahathir on Friday defended the use of a tough security law to
detain 13 alleged Muslim militants, saying it was invoked as a
preventive measure.

The premier said the 13, held under the Internal Security Act
(ISA) allowing indefinite detention without trial, would be
charged in court if police gathered sufficient evidence.

"Where they are involved in definite crimes, if we can find
enough proof, we will try them," he told reporters.

"But the ISA is a preventive law. We detain them before the
crime is committed. The whole idea is before he kills a person,
we arrest him first."

Mahathir said the men, alleged members of a new wing of the
Malaysian Mujahedin Group (KMM), had planned to overthrow the
government to form an Islamic state.