PUTRAJAYA - Islamic governments will come under severe strain if the United States leads a war o­n Iraq which is seen as "irrational", Malaysia's future prime minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, has warned.

Abdullah, who will chair the 57-nation Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) when he takes over from Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad in October, was speaking in an exclusive interview with AFP at his office in the new administrative capital of Putrajaya.

"If the US action is seen as most unreasonable and unfair, irrational even, then we are going to have problems at home," said Abdullah, whose moderate Islamic nation has won thanks from US President George W Bush for its support in the war o­n terrorism.

"The militants and terrorists would obviously want to exploit the situation and even the moderate Muslims will be very angry.

"They will put the governments of Islamic countries under very severe strain."

Abdullah, a 63-year-old Islamic scholar who will take over a country widely regarded as the world's most economically successful Islamic nation, spelled out in a rare interview his views o­n global and regional tensions, terrorism, Islam and the economy.

Contrasting style

He said any perception that a war in Iraq was anti-Muslim would spark demands that Islamic governments take action against the US and other countries involved, along with an increase in support for jihad and terrorism.

Asked whether Kuala Lumpur would back a call by the United Arab Emirates for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to stand down to prevent a US-led war, Abdullah said Malaysia would study the proposal when it is presented at an OIC special meeting in Qatar tomorrow.

"If Saddam Hussein voluntarily wants to give up and retire, that certainly would help," he said.

But Arab countries were best placed to advise the Iraqi president, Abdullah noted, displaying the cautious style which is expected to distinguish his premiership from that of the outspoken Mahathir, who has led this country for the past 21 years.

Abdullah begins a two-month rehearsal for the top job o­n Thursday when Mahathir, 77, goes o­n leave. He will take over for good after the OIC summit here o­n Oct 11-14, when Malaysia will automatically assume the chairmanship of the organisation.

Threatened by PAS

Within 14 months the new prime minister will face a general election, and he acknowledged that his job will be made harder if the US-led war o­n terrorism is perceived as anti-Muslim.

The main competition for Muslim votes in this multicultural Southeast Asian country, where some 60 percent of the population of 23 million follow Islam, comes from the hardline PAS.

"PAS would want to exploit anything they think gives them an advantage, anything they think anti-Islam, and if they see the government of Malaysia is not defending the Muslims enough then they will take up the issue against us.

"The Muslims in Malaysia are very much motivated by religious imperatives, that's our concern."

Apart from the Islamic backlash against a war o­n Iraq, Abdullah acknowledged that export-dependent Malaysia, whose main trading partner is the United States, would face economic problems if the conflict was prolonged.

Economy concerns

He hinted that a stimulus package to be released later this month could contain surprises for a country facing not o­nly the fallout from war but competition for its manufacturing industries from China's exploding economy, which is vacuuming up foreign direct investment (FDI).

Incentives "come in different ways," he said. "We would like to encourage Malaysians themselves, because we have high levels of savings, to invest in the various development projects, including the infrastructural projects.

"We cannot be entirely dependent o­n the availability of FDI in the way we were before."

Malaysia's FDI fell by more than 40 percent last year to US$2.95 billion, according to government figures.

Singapore ties

Abdullah acknowledged strains in relations between Malaysia and its tiny but wealthy neighbour, Singapore, over a number of issues, including the price of water supplied to the resource-poor island state.

"There is an inextricable relationship between Malaysia and Singapore. There will be differences of opinion o­n many things, there'll perhaps be some periods of tension because we don't see certain things from the same perspective.

"But I believe that the relationship between Malaysia and Singapore will not deteriorate to the extent that will involve us in any kind of conflict," he said. AFP