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.