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Bali victims 'collateral'
By Kimina Lyall and Steve Lewis
February 25, 2003

THE victims of the Bali bombings were simply "collateral" casualties in the war over Palestine - the cause of the bombing and the September 11 attacks - according to Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

Mahathir said the war on terror is a war to "dominate the world" / AFP

Dr Mahathir blamed Europe and Israel for creating world terrorism, and called for radical reforms to the UN in order to "do away or modify the powers of the victors of a war fought half a century ago".

Dr Mahathir's speech, at the opening ceremony of the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, could undermine the summit's intention to pass a declaration critical of Iraq.

Dr Mahathir appeared to take another step away from his previous support of the US's campaign against terrorism.

"It is no longer just a war against terrorism, it is in fact a war to dominate the world, ie, the chromatically different world," he said.

His remarks are likely to play to Iraq's plans to drum up anti-US sentiment at the meeting, with a high-level delegation led by Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan lobbying the 116-country forum, especially the six members currently on the UN Security Council.

"Truly, the world is in a terrible mess," Dr Mahathir said. "Frankly, I think it is because of a revival of the old European trait of wanting to dominate the world."

Describing recent acts of terror as "not on the scale of the Holocaust, the pogroms and the Inquisition", he said there "was no systematic campaign of terror outside Europe until the Europeans and the Jews created a Jewish state out of Palestinian land".

"If Iraq is linked to al-Qaeda, is it not more logical to link the expropriation of Palestinian land, and the persecution and oppression of Palestinians, with September 11?

"If the innocent people who died in the attack on Afghanistan, and those who have been dying from lack of food and medical care in Iraq, are considered collaterals, are not the 3000 who died in New York and the 200 in Bali also just collaterals, whose deaths are necessary for the operations to succeed?"

John Howard maintained a steadfast silence in response to the Malaysian leader's remarks.

A spokesman said the Prime Minister said he saw no reason to alter the practice of recent years of not commenting on the speeches of Dr Mahathir.

Simon Crean said Dr Mahathir was wrong to portray the Iraq conflict as a religious war. "This has always been about disarming Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction, and nothing more," the Opposition Leader said.

"But this is why it's imperative there be UN backing for any action against Iraq so it cannot be misrepresented as a religious war."

Dr Mahathir called on reforms at the UN that would outlaw war and force all countries to disarm, along with a new body established under UN auspices to "oversee the military budget of all countries, big and small".

Mindful of a peace rally in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, attended by an estimated 200,000 people, Dr Mahathir closed his speech with: "Malaysia pledges to work vigorously to oppose war, including the war against Iraq."

It was left to outgoing chair of the movement, South African President Thabo Mbeke, to call upon Iraq to change its behaviour.

"Peace and stability in our countries and the rest of the world demands that Iraq, a long-standing member of our movement, should co-operate fully with the UN Security Council and the weapons inspectors to satisfy all humanity that she has no weapons of mass destruction," he said.

The summit is expected to pass today a declaration calling on Iraq to co-operate fully with weapons inspectors.