The Hindu : Al-Qaeda: Malaysia rejects charge

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Sep 01, 2002

International

International

Al-Qaeda: Malaysia rejects charge

By P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE Aug. 31. The Malaysian Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad, has disputed the suggestion that his country is possibly a haven for parking Al-Qaeda funds. He has left the door open, however, for any investigation in this regard.

Malaysia, according to him, would cooperate with the international community in this regard. The issue of South-East Asia's suspected emergence as Al-Qaeda's sanctuary has been in focus on the international stage for nearly a year. However, the issue acquired a cutting-edge dimension in the context of the latest reports from the United States that a few countries and non-state territories in South-East Asia have been mentioned in a United Nations-sponsored report as financial access-points for Al-Qaeda.

The U.N.-commissioned report is said to be doing the rounds within the global organisation. Dr. Mahathir was responding to questions on this issue at a news conference in Kuala Lumpur following the celebration of Malaysia's national day. About the suspicion that Al-Qaeda activists might have stashed away funds in Malaysia, he said: "As far as we know, there is none''. However, Malaysia had already pledged to cooperate with other authorities to investigate the possible existence of concealed terror-related financial accounts, he said.

A collective anti-terror declaration, which the United States recently signed in conjunction with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), was in itself a recognition of the urgency to sanitise this region which has a sizable sprinkling of suspected Al-Qaeda activists. The two sides have, as a result, committed themselves to track down any terror-spewing funds that might have been stashed away through smart-accounting techniques in a highly interactive financial market that South East Asia has become.

It is in this context that Dr. Mahathir's latest comments acquire a practical relevance to the U.S.-led efforts to starve the Al-Qaeda of funds.

Hong Kong, which is said to have figured in the U.N.'s report, is also ready to make investigates.

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