The International Movement for a Just World (Just) president Dr Chandra Muzaffar called for the peace movements worldwide to remain steadfast in their opposition to a war in Iraq and continue to expose the Machiavellian designs of Washington and London and their cohorts.

"Peace movements in particular know that the driving force behind Washington's war o­n Iraq is the desire for total global hegemony," Chandra said in a statement dated Feb 1.

He said the war against Iraq is meant to control over - and not mere access to - the world's second largest oil reserve, which is a vital prerequisite for hegemonic power.

Chandra also cited that Israel is determined to ensure that no Arab nation will have the capacity or the potential to challenge its military and nuclear dominance of the region.

Crucial issues

"And since Israel and Israeli interests exercise so much influence upon US foreign policy in the Middle East, o­ne should not be surprised that Washington is ever ready to do the Zionist state's bidding and crush Iraq," said Chandra.

The human rights activist said the Zionist Right in the US has, in the course of the last decade, forged a firm alliance with elements of the Christian Right and emerge as o­ne of the powerful lobbies in US president George W Bush's administration.

"For this lobby, targeting Islam and Muslim societies is as important a mission as preserving corporate capitalist interests and values. Hence its enthusiastic support for the war o­n Iraq," Chandra explained.

"It is important that people realise that these are the crucial issues in the Iraq crisis and not Saddam's alleged weapons of mass destruction."

Chandra expected in the next week or two that Bush and British prime minister Tony Blair will force or even blackmail other countries to join the 'Coalition of the Willing' to seize control of Iraq through force.

However, he hoped that permanent and non-permanent members of the UN Security Council will not succumb to the blandishments and machinations of Bush and Blair.

US pressure

"The US Secretary of State Colin Powell's attempt to present the UN Security Council with new 'evidence' of Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction and his alleged link with al-Qaeda is part of that exercise," said Chandra.

"Obviously, linking Saddam to al-Qaeda and terrorism is a tactic which the duo has decided to employ to frighten sceptical sections of the public especially in the United States and Britain into supporting the imminent assault upon Iraq," he said.

Chandra said a section of the public will be swayed just as some members of the Security Council will be persuaded by the so-called new evidence.

He added those who continue to remain suspicious of the real motives of Washington and London or still sitting o­n the fence would be subjected to different forms of pressure.

France and Russia might be told that not o­nly would their present stakes be protected but their long-term interests in Iraqi oil will be further enlarged, he said.

"Germany, which will be chairing the Security Council this month, would be assured that it would have a substantial role in the infrastructure development of Iraq after it has been smashed into smithereens.

"With China, which together with Russia and France are the three Security Council members opposed to a war in Iraq without a UN mandate, Washington is almost certain to dangle the juicy carrot of easy access to new military and development technologies," Chandra said.

He predicted that Washington could well threaten to withdraw its economic and political support for Pakistan (a non-permanent Security Council member) if she continues to insist upon a peaceful, diplomatic solution to the Iraq crisis.

Space shuttle tragedy

In another development, Keadilan and PRM jointly expressed their deepest condolences to families, relatives and frieds of Colonel Rick Husband, Lieutenant Colonel Michael Anderson, Commander Laurel Clark, Captain David Brown, Commander William Mc Cool, Dr Alpana Chawla, Colonel Ilan Ramon, who died in the Columbia shuttle disaster last Saturday.

"What has happened, which has caused losses not o­nly to human lives but also the fruits of scientific investigations, is indeed a shocking tragedy," said Keadilan president Dr Wan Azizah Ismail and PRM president Dr Syed Husin Ali.

"Please allow us to state most respectfully and sincerely that this tragedy tremendously saddens our hearts, especially after continuously witnessing the loss of lives and destruction of property that appear to be without end, as a result of the unresolved conflicts all over the world, especially in Palestine," the two party leaders said in a statement dated Feb 3.