Twenty-nine non-governmental organisations today held a peaceful demonstration calling on the United Nations to intervene and stop a possible United States military onslaught against Afghanistan.

Calling themselves the 'Malaysian People's Peace Movement', some 200 students and activists bearing flowers and placards, chanted 'Peace, not War' outside the Petronas twin towers in Kuala Lumpur.

The crowd, which gathered outside the building at about 1pm, also sang famous anti-war numbers such as John Lennon's Give peace a chance and Imagine.

The demonstrators urged the UN to take the leadership in building up a global consensus on actions needed to combat terrorism.

"The movement is disturbed because UN has remained largely silent in dealing with the crisis," said spokesperson of the group, Cynthia Gabriel.

The demonstrators also recited the movement's 15-point declaration, dubbed 'Peace not war'.

"We strongly oppose and condemn all forms of military retaliation by US against those suspected of being involved and the nations accused of protecting the terrorists," read the declaration.

Following the Sept 11 attacks which collapsed the World Trade Centre and damaged the Pentagon, US President George W Bush declared a war on terrorism.

Afghanistan, where prime suspect Osama bin Laden is in hiding, was told to extradite the alleged terrorist or face a military strike.

However, Afghanistan's ruling Taliban have remained defiant and are preparing for a possible US attack.

Root causes

The declaration also called upon other superpowers such as China, Britain, Russia and France not to support the US in the event of a military strike.

"The American government should be aware that military action is not the best solution. They should look for a long-term resolution, especially by taking a serious look at their foreign policies," stated the declaration..

It stressed that the root causes of terrorism have to be dealt with or the problem will continue to exist.

Instead of an armed strike, the declaration urged that efforts be focused on fair and transparent investigation so that those responsible can be tried, backed by solid evidence in the International Court of Justice.

Foreign and local media were also reminded to uphold the principles and ethics of journalism and not fall into the trap of xenophobia.

A few police vehicles, including a water cannon truck were stationed nearby throughout the hour-long protest. However, there were no untoward incidents.

Among the organisations that participated in the demonstration were human rights group (Suaram), Universiti Bangsar Utama (UBU), SOS Selangor, Food Not Bombs (FNB), Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall Youth, Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) and the International Movement for a Just World (Just).