December 21, 2002 DAP chairperson Lim Kit Siang today commended the government for insisting on a retraction of a chart in a United Nations (UN) report linking several organisations to al Qaeda but said not enough is being done to address other reports which also negatively portray Malaysia as a "terrorist centre".

Lim said he fully supported the efforts by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad for the offending section of the UN report, which linked Barisan Nasional to al Qaeda, to be removed.

However, he said other reports alleging that Malaysia is a centre for terrorism should also not be overlooked.

"Even more damaging than the UN report is the latest report of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) which (claimed) Malaysia is a launching pad for al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah (JI) terrorist bombings and attacks since 1999," said Lim in a press statement.

Malaysian leaders were outraged when a UN Security Council monitoring team published a report in which several political parties and organisations, including BN, PAS and the Islamic Youth Organisation of Malaysia (Abim), were linked indirectly to al Qaeda via their connection with a southern Philippines separatist group.

Although the government had submitted several complaints via the Malaysia's Permanent Representative to the UN, Hasmy Agam, no changes have been made to the monitoring group's report.

Following in the footsteps of UN report was another report published earlier this month by ICG, a conflict research group, titled How the Jemaah Islamiah Terrorist Network Operates which carried extensive findings of the shadowy militant group.

Malaysian terrorists

According to Lim, the ICG report is much more damaging to Malaysia's reputation since the widely circulated report prominently featured Malaysia in its reports on the JI terror network.

Among the assertions made by the ICG are that JI was initially set up by Indonesian nationals in the mid-1990s in Malaysia to achieve their goal of setting up a pan-Islamic state in Southeast Asia through terrorist means and revolution.

The report also detailed the role played by several Malaysians in bomb attacks across the region, including Yazid Sufaat, a former army captain who is currently detained under the Internal Security Act for his links to several Sept 11 attackers, and Taufik Abdul Halim, a Malaysian who has been sentenced to death in Indonesia for his role in a bomb attack in Indonesia in August 2001.

According to the ICG, Yazid "reportedly boasted about his role in the Medan bombings" which took place on Christmas Eve 2000 while Taufik was briefly imprisoned under the ISA before becoming involved with terrorist activities in Indonesia.

Highly damaging

"It is inexplicable that Mahathir and Abdullah...could be so oblivious to the highly damaging ICG report deeply implicating Malaysia in the JI network and the history of terror in Southeast Asia since 1999 showing no concern, reaction or response," said Lim.

To address the allegations made in the reports, Lim suggested for a government White Paper to be carried out as soon as possible.

"A White Paper on the ICG report is urgent and imperative especially as Malaysian leaders have made several contradictory statements in the past raising questions about their commitment in the war against terrorism.

"Another reason for a White Paper on the ICG report is the right of Malaysians to be informed by the government of the threat of terrorism, national, regional and international, which is long overdue. Malaysians are tired of reading about such information only from foreign media and sources," he said.

Rising death toll

Meanwhile, in a separate statement, Lim criticised Transport Minister Dr Ling Liong Sik for the rise in death toll due to road accidents during the recent Hari Raya holiday season.

"The death toll for the Hari Raya holidays exceeded the death toll of the Bali terrorist bombings. Police recorded an increase in the number of accidents with 12,239 accidents, and average of 816 accidents daily and 285 fatalities," he said.

Lim said that as transport minister, Ling should spearhead the campaign for road safety in view of the rising fatalities from road accidents.

"The cabinet should appoint a new Cabinet Committee on Road Safety with a dynamic chairperson. As a wake-up call, the government should release the annual data of total number of traffic accidents and deaths during the national festivities," he added.