Anwar: US must act with restraint
Jailed ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim urged the United States to act with restraint and to allow the people of Iraq to resolve Saddam Hussein's dictatorship.
In a brief press statement issued through his lawyer Sankara Nair to malaysiakini yesterday, Anwar said a war would only bring catastrophe for many, namely the Muslim world.
"The intended aggression on Iraq is deplorable. It would only result in great tragedy for the Arabs and the Muslim world," said Anwar.
"The US administration must act with restraint. It is for the people and for the democratic forces within Iraq to resolve the dictatorship of Saddam," he added.
Jailed ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim urged the United States to act with restraint and to allow the people of Iraq to resolve Saddam Hussein's dictatorship.
In a brief press statement issued through his lawyer Sankara Nair to malaysiakini yesterday, Anwar said a war would only bring catastrophe for many, namely the Muslim world.
"The intended aggression on Iraq is deplorable. It would only result in great tragedy for the Arabs and the Muslim world," said Anwar.
"The US administration must act with restraint. It is for the people and for the democratic forces within Iraq to resolve the dictatorship of Saddam," he added.
"Anwar issued this statement after consulting me on the legalities of the US-Iraq stand-off," said Sankara.
Anwar, who was sacked from his post in 1998, is currently serving a 15-year prison sentence for corruption and sodomy.
He claims that the charges were fabricated to oust him but the government denied this.
UN undermined
In a related development, International Movement for a Just World (Just) expressed disappointment with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan for not rebuking US for using the UN Security Council in its bid for a war against Iraq.
Just president Dr Chandra Muzaffar said Annan had failed to defend and uphold the UN charter, which is primarily concerned with preventing war, not pursuing it.
"The secretary-general's betrayal of the charter is further compounded by his willingness to caution Washington against applying pressure upon or bribing members of the Security Council, to endorse its war resolution.
"Annan has allowed a powerful state to undermine the integrity of the UN without even a whimper of protest from him," said Chandra in a press statement.
In his speech at the 13th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, Annan urged the international community to make every effort to encourage Iraq to fully comply with Security Council Resolution 1441.
He said that the Iraqi leadership should choose full transparency and co-operation with the weapons inspectors to help avoid war.
