Malaysia and other countries would not permit the United States to control Iraq o­nce the war has ended, said Acting Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi today.

He said numerous quarters expect the superpower to continue to station its forces in Iraq even after the war in order to hang o­n to power there.

"But (the US) says no, no no, they regard themselves as liberation forces. Liberation forces means that they don't remain in that country.

"If they remain there, it means that they want to take over the country," he was quoted as saying in a Bernama report.

The acting premier was asked to comment o­n reports claiming that the US had no intention to hand over the re-construction of Iraq to the United Nations.

Abdullah said if the US failed to withdraw its forces after the Iraqi regime was defeated, it would confirm fears that US was waging the war solely to continue exerting its power in the region.

He also urged Malaysians to contribute to the humanitarian aid funds for the war victims in Iraq, adding that the country would be coordinated by the Foreign Ministry.

Resolve crisis

In an address earlier, the acting premier said the UN Security Council must provide an opportunity to leaders of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) to express their respective desires for an immediate stop to the war.

He said Malaysia wanted the UN to play its role to resolve the Iraq crisis and hoped that the big powers would cooperate to stop the US from continuing with the war.

Abdullah said the impact of the war- which began o­n March 20 - was not o­nly felt by the Iraqis but the whole world as well.

"Economies will be affected, international trade involving the West Asian countries will be affected, the sale of the country's palm oil and cars will also be affected, shipping rates will rise and so will risky insurance," he said.

The acting premier warned that a protracted war would lead to more economic problems because it would affect the implementation of plans to develop the country.

"That's why we don't want war, we want to resolve the problem in Iraq through consensus," he said, adding that he hoped Malaysians would understand the implications of the war.

Abdullah said he was also glad that Malaysians, including the opposition, supported the government in its stand o­n the Iraqi issue and hoped that they would contribute to ease the sufferings of the Iraqis.

"I'm proud of Malaysians for strongly opposing war and wanting peace," he said.

Defence pacts

In a related development, Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) today urged the government to immediately withdraw from the defence agreement with the United States and the Five Nations Defence Agreement (FNDA) with Britain and Australia.

Its president Dr Syed Husin Ali said there was no moral basis for Malaysia to continue with these agreements due to the o­ngoing conflict in Iraq.

"US has launched an illegal and immoral war of aggression o­n Iraq. It uses lethal weapons of mass destruction, which is inflicting deaths and sufferings o­n large number of innocent children, women and elderly.

"In this inhuman and barbaric act, it is aided by Britain and Australia, which are leading members of the FNDA," he said in a statement.

The PRM leader said Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who is also the chairperson of the Non Aligned Movement (NAM), has consistently and correctly condemned the unjust war.

"Therefore, we call upon Dr Mahathir to initiate the move to pull out from the defence agreements," he said.

The agreement with US was signed by Mahathir and the then Secretary of Defence Casper Weinberger in 1984 while the FNDA has continued since pre-indepence from Seato (Southeast Asian Treaty Organisation).

Government grants

Meanwhile, the government said non-governmental organisations involved in assistance programmes for Iraqi war victims would be issued grants to ease their financial burden.

National Unity and Social Development Ministry Dr Siti Zaharah Sulaiman, who said this, added that her ministry was willing to cooperate with any NGOs in chanelling assistance via the Foreign Ministry.

She said the ministry had also drawn out an assistance programme for Iraqi refugees of the conflict.