The Hindu : Address causes of terrorism: Mahathir

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Sep 23, 2002

International

International

Address causes of terrorism: Mahathir

By P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE Sept. 22. The Malaysian Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad, has called for a balanced approach to the terrorist problem, even as much of South East Asia today remained seized of the political implications of the ongoing anti-terror campaign in the region. Some moderate Islamic leaders in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority state with a tradition of largely secular politics, sought to caution the United States against playing "propaganda tricks'' on unsuspecting governments in the region in the name of an anti-terror campaign.

The context relates to the anger and frustration in pockets of Indonesia over the suspected American action of dictating an anti-terror agenda to the Megawati Sukarnoputri's administration in Jakarta. More important to the regional psyche, though, was Dr. Mahathir's official comment that a security-oriented agenda would not help free the world from the scourge of terrorism.

Speaking today to Malaysian journalists accompanying him on a foreign tour during which he would attend the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), Dr. Mahathir said "the world will live in fear for a long time because the fight against terrorism is being done the wrong way''. About the main thrust of the current U.S.-led global war on terror and about its reverberations in South East Asia too, Dr. Mahathir said: "There is too much concentration on security, how to improve security and how to make it foolproof. By itself, it will not solve the terrorist problem. You must look at the causes, you can't put up barriers all the time''.

Dr. Mahathir commended Malaysia's own example of having fought a ``terrorist'' menace in the past through military means as also the political process of "winning the hearts and minds of the people'' during the period of communist `insurgency'. In Malaysia, over 60 suspected militants are being held now under the Internal Security Act. They have been detained under an anti-terror process that was launched last December.

One of them, Yazid, has been cited by the U.S. authorities for suspected links to the `9/11' strikes in view of his alleged act of playing host to one or more of the plane hijackers in question.

It is in these circumstances that official Kuala Lumpur is keen to ensure that the U.S. investigators do not unwittingly portray Malaysia as an outpost of "international terrorism'' and as a regional epicentre of terror. Separately, the latest anti-terror swoop by Singapore on 21 suspects has turned the laser beam on three aspects: the alleged plot of the detainees to create a pan-Islamic state in South East Asia, their suspected game plan to convert Malaysia into a hotbed in the first stage of any such operation, and their alleged efforts to create religious strife in Singapore and Malaysia.

Of the 21 suspects, three are placed under restrictions while 18 have been held under the Internal Security Act. They include a few with `Indian' and `Pakistani' origin.

All of them are said to belong to one particular religion, a factor that is being sought to be addressed with sensitivity.

The Singapore authorities have also spoken of the possibility of a dozen or so Jemaah Islamiyah members being in hiding in the region at this time.

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