Ramadan is approaching...
sg.news.yahoo.com
Sunday October 21, 11:46 PM
Indonesia and Malaysia warn of backlash over U.S. action
By Bill Savadove and Dan Sloan
SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Indonesia warned the United States on Sunday of explosive consequences in the Islamic world if U.S.-led military strikes in Afghanistan stretched into the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
On Sunday, Asia-Pacific leaders condemned the September 11 attacks on the United States but stopped short of endorsing the military action in Afghanistan or naming Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden, Washington's prime suspect in the attacks.
"Emotionally it would be, I think, explosive if military actions are still being done in Afghanistan" during Ramadan, Indonesian Foreign Minister Wirajuda told a news conference.
Wirajuda said he relayed his country's concerns about the U.S.-led bombardment of Afghanistan, now into its third week, when he met U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell on Friday.
"We clearly conveyed in our discussions on the ministerial level meetings that prolonged war will not help create better situations in many developing Islamic countries," he said.
Indonesia and its predominantly Muslim neighbour Malaysia and have condemned the attacks on the United States while opposing military retaliation against Afghanistan's ruling Taliban for harbouring bin Laden.
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad also said opposition could grow in his country as Ramadan approached.
But, adopting a more moderate tone, he said Washington's use of special forces in the campaign was an "improvement" over air strikes.
With Ramadan about four weeks away, a drawn out military conflict in Afghanistan would destabilise Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh, Wirajuda said. He has said the United States is aware of the sensitivities.
Both countries expressed concern about civilian casualties, and Mahathir said opposition to the strikes by Muslims would grow stronger during the holy month.
"We object especially against the use of so-called 'smart bombs' and 'smart rockets' because we have found in the past they are not so smart," Mahathir told a news conference.
"But today we hear that ground forces, particularly these special forces, have moved in on the ground. They are likely to be more specific. I think that is an improvement."
The United States took its military campaign to a new level this weekend, sending more than 100 special forces troops into Afghanistan on a mission that included a search of a command complex used by Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar.
"We are still not willing to support military action. But such limited military action might be necessary in order to track down the terrorists," Mahathir said.
EMOTIONALLY EXPLOSIVE
Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim country and its secular president, Megawati Sukarnoputri, is trying to tread a delicate line between supporting the United States, a key ally, and appeasing Muslim groups.
More than 5,000 Muslims calling for holy war gathered for a peaceful mass prayer rally on Sunday in Indonesia's royal city of Solo to protest against the U.S.-led strikes.
Britain, one of the biggest allies of the United States in the war on terror, said on Sunday that a looming harsh winter and Ramadan meant the race was on for the United States to achieve its "immediate objectives" in Afghanistan.
Asked if the two powers were striving to achieve their war aims before winter and the Muslim holy month, British Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram said: "Clearly we are planning to try and achieve that very objective."
Mahathir said the U.S. action did not represent a war on Islam. But he added Malaysia would prefer to have the United Nations play a bigger role in setting the policy response to terrorism.
"If it is a war against Islam, it would be an easy matter to wipe out 300 million Muslims simply by lobbing a few nuclear bombs on them, which is not their intention at all," he said.
"We would be much more comfortable with the U.N. calling the shots because if it is just any country, no matter who powerful, how influential, there might be some people who may not agree."
Mahathir did not specify what role the U.N. might play.
However, he said the world should try to agree on a common definition of acts of terrorism to fight the threat.
"These are very important things because otherwise you cannot get the whole world to fight against terrorists because one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter." |
