West's 'racist' terrorism war attacked as NAM confab opens
KUALA LUMPUR - Western nations were attacked Thursday for "racist" policies in the war against terrorism as the 114-nation Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) began a conference expected to be dominated by the Iraq crisis.
Rich nations lectured developing countries on alleged human rights violations but "acts of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and other forms of related intolerance" were growing in their own backyard, said host Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar.
He voiced concern that political parties, which based their ideologies on racial superiority, racial discrimination or ethnic exclusivity were gaining popularity in rich nations following the terrorist attacks on the United States.
"It would seem that the fight against terrorism has brought out the worst racial impulses in these countries, which is now manifested in their policies established in the aftermath of September 11, including those which can be considered to be racial profiling," Syed Hamid said.
A draft of the final document to be adopted at the NAM summit next week, obtained by AFP , says terrorism "cannot be attributed to religion, nationality or civilisation."
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