Keadilan, PRM call for diplomatic solution to Iraq crisis
Keadilan and PRM today "firmly opposed" the threat of war on Iraq and urged the United States to solve problems relating to Iraq in diplomatic framework within the United Nations.
The two parties stressed that they were not defending Saddam Hussein because they would oppose "all regimes that are cruel, repressive and dictatorial".
"This does not exclude the one in Iraq," said Keadilan president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and her counterpart from PRM Dr Syed Husin Ali in a joint statement.
However, they said there should not be double-standards in handling such regimes in the world, adding that any removal of a cruel leader or regime should be made by the citizens themselves instead of self-righteous foreign leaders who act merely on the basis of 'might is right'.
They questioned the reason for the US to take actions only against Iraq, and not other countries which also
possess weapons of mass destruction.
Keadilan and PRM today "firmly opposed" the threat of war on Iraq and urged the United States to solve problems relating to Iraq in diplomatic framework within the United Nations.
The two parties stressed that they were not defending Saddam Hussein because they would oppose "all regimes that are cruel, repressive and dictatorial".
"This does not exclude the one in Iraq," said Keadilan president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and her counterpart from PRM Dr Syed Husin Ali in a joint statement. However, they said there should not be double-standards in handling such regimes in the world, adding that any removal of a cruel leader or regime should be made by the citizens themselves instead of self-righteous foreign leaders who act merely on the basis of 'might is right'.
They questioned the reason for the US to take actions only against Iraq, and not other countries which also
possess weapons of mass destruction.
Weapons supplied by US
On the charge that Iraq had ignored 12 UN resolutions to disarm, Wan Azizah and Syed said the US and United Kingdom should have taken action against Israel when the latter brushed aside 72 UN resolutions on Palestine.
The two opposition leaders said while it was true that Iraq had attacked its neighbours and torture its own people using dangerous chemicals and weapons, much of those that were used against Iran and the Kurds were supplied by the US in the first place.
"Have we forgotten how the US killed thousands of innocent people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki using atomic bombs, and inflicted untold deaths and sufferings in Vietnam by carpet-bombing and the use of the Orange chemical?" they questioned.
They also expressed support for the view by China, Germany, France and Russia that the period for the UN inspectors to carry out their work in Iraq should be extended and that a UN peace force be formed to assist the inspection.
Consequences of war
An aggression on Iraq will cause deaths and injuries of innocent human beings, increase instability in the Middle East, step up international terrorism and threaten peace in the world, they warned.
The war drums beat louder following a presentation by US Secretary of State Colin Powell last week in the UN Security Council which featured, among others, tapes of intercepted conversations and satellite pictures to prove that Iraq had not disarmed its weapons at the end of the 1990 Gulf War.
Early last month, a People's Alliance for Peace Malaysia comprising some 500 non-governmental organisations, voluntary bodies, youth movements, and component parties in the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition was formed and has since launched a campaign to oppose the war on Iraq.
Local newspapers, mainly controlled or owned by the government, have also given prominent coverage to anti-war activities.
A demonstration organised by opposition parties will be held at the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur on Feb 15 to protest any attack on Iraq.
