There has always been confusion between the fight against colonialism and hatred of "white men", says jailed politician Anwar Ibrahim in an undated and previously unpublished article.

The former deputy premier and deputy Umno president, who was sacked from both positions in 1998, says the two issues are not one and the same thing.

His wife and Keadilan president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail made the article available to malaysiakini and PAS political organ Harakah , following the uproar caused when Umno president and Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad opened the party's general assembly last Thursday.

Mahathir had launched a vitriolic attack on the European race, accusing them of "warmongering, indiscriminate attacks on Muslims, greed and sexual deviancy".

He said that Europeans, including "those who migrated and set up new nations in America, Australia and New Zealand", wanted "to control the world again".

Anwar has been serving successive prison sentences after being convicted of sodomy in 1999 and corrupt practice in 2000, charges that he continues to deny.

Through his lawyer Sankara Nair, he claimed today that his article was written much earlier, but that the contents are still relevant in light of Mahathir's recent remarks.

Two factions

In it, he says the people should focus their fight against all forms of injustice and oppression, irrespective of the source of such abuse.

"Progressive nationalists, Islamic socialists and left-wing activists, for instance, have stressed that their struggle is to demand freedom and justice," he says.

"What should be fought is not any particular race or ethnic group but rather, injustice and discrimination, irrespective of whether it involves a foreign power or a government of an independent state.".

Anwar writes that anti-colonialism sentiments are nothing new, having been debated at length half a century ago by "our nationalist forefathers" .

He discusses the history of the nationalist movement in Malaysia, claiming the existence of two factions in the pre-Independence movement in the mid-1950s.

"Umno and the Alliance were generally regarded as allies of the West. Progressive nationals like PAS and PRM were excluded from all negotiations for independence from the British," he says.

"Progressive nationalists were oppressed by the government, which was supported by Western powers from whom they had inherited laws like the Internal Security Act."

He says that, while the law was meant to control communism, it was used in other situations as well.

In the 1960s and 1970s, for example, it was used against student activists and opposition parties, who protested violations of rights, foreign control of the economy, and exploitation of workers.

God's creation

"As we question the arrogance (of powerful countries), especially the United States, we also have to be consistent in our demand for freedom for the people and to fight against injustice in developing countries," he says.

Merely emphasising the clash between the East and the West does not improve mankind, Anwar notes.

"God created different races and cultures to encourage mutual respect and, as such, both the East and the West belong to Him," he adds, citing a verse from the Quran.

"What is required of us is to uphold truth and justice."