An attack on Iraq will hurt the fight against international terrorism, inflame Muslim anger and increase the number of recruits to terrorist ranks, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today.

Mahathir, whose country takes over the chairmanship of the 57-member Organisation of the Islamic Conference this year, gave the warning as he opened the 11th annual meeting of the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum in Kuala Lumpur.

"There was a time when Muslim countries were in agreement over the need to stop Iraqi aggressiveness. Today that unity of purpose has disappeared. Muslims see the stance taken against Iraq as another act of discrimination against Muslims," he said.

Addressing more than 170 delegates from 24 countries, including the United States, Japan, Australia and China, Mahathir said the world was failing in the war on terrorism because it was not addressing a major root cause the plight of the Palestinians.

"I would like to insist that the principle reason is territorial and not religious. The Palestinians have had their land taken away from them and they have been expelled from their land and made refugees.

Struggle for justice

"Their struggle has been ignored by the world. Even the killings of their people, children and non-combatants included, raised hardly an eyebrow. Unable to wage conventional war they have resorted to acts of terror."

Although friendly Muslim countries were unable to help the Palestinians, individuals were resorting to acts of terrorism in what they believed was a struggle for justice, Mahathir said.

The terror attacks on the United States in September 2001 were "an attack on the whole world," he said. "By the same token, the dispossession of Palestinian land is not an exclusive problem of the Palestinians.

"The terrorism that assails the world today has a direct connection with the fate of the Palestinians."

Southeast Asia's longest-serving leader, who has run Malaysia for the past 21 years, said the difference in approach by the United States towards Iraq and North Korea would anger Muslims further.

"Iraq, Iran and North Korea have been labeled as the Axis of Evil. But despite the fact that North Korea has admitted that it has nuclear capability, it is not being threatened with war as Iraq is."

"We do not want to see North Korea being threatened with war and the country being militarily attacked, but the accommodating attitude towards North Korea is going to anger the Muslims more," he said.

Twin themes

Delegates said the three-day APPF meeting was likely to be dominated by the twin themes of Iraq and terrorism.

The APPF was formally established in Tokyo in January 1993 under the leadership of prime minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, with the aim of contributing to the region's peace, stability and prosperity by providing a forum for dialogue among parliamentarians.

Member countries are Australia, Cambodia, Canada, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Chile, China, Colombia, Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Mexico, Micronesia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam. AFP