Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today Iraq's acceptance of a UN disarmament resolution did not mean the threat of war was over, and again warned that a conflict would lead to more terrorism.

He told a group of visiting Japanese journalists that he welcomed Iraq's decision but suspected the United States could make other accusations against Baghdad to justify military action, the official Bernama news agency reported.

Such a move would "simply anger more Muslims and there'll be more recruited for the terrorist groups, that is why we oppose military action," he said.

Mahathir said he had written letters to US President George W Bush, French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder "to try to explain to the big powers the danger of military action in Iraq."

Earlier, Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar urged Iraq to cooperate fully with UN arms inspectors and provide them with "unfettered access" for the sake of world peace.

He pressed world leaders not to view President Saddam Hussein's acceptance of the UN's disarmament resolution with scepticism or continue to talk about war.

"Let us not prejudge the situation. The last thing we want to see is to see war. Let us support the UN's effort and we welcome Iraq's decision to cooperate," he said.

Malaysia, is due to take over the chairmanship of the 57-nation Organisation of the Islamic Conference after a summit here in October next year. AFP