Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said today that a key challenge that he would face in promoting peace is how to ensure that extremism and radicalism do not take root in Malaysia.

He said this was because religion has increasingly become the most important imperative for people to do things, both good and bad.

"By extension, religious teachings can be abused to incite people into violence and conflict," he said at the closing of the Kuala Lumpur World Peace Conference this afternoon.

Guard against such forces

Abdullah welcomed a discussion at the conference on how to further interfaith understanding as he felt that such discussions would enable people of different faiths to find a "common ground" and defend it against those who seek to use religion to create conflict.

"We must not surrender to the extremists who promote an exclusivist and violent agenda, at complete odds with Islam.

Similarly, people in the West must guard against forces that cast the world in the simplicity of good and evil where, to creatively paraphrase, if you are with us you are good and if you are not, you are evil," he said.

Abdullah's comments has come in the light of continued problems faced by governments worldwide in battling the rise of religious extremism.

Countries in the region continue to face the threat posed by pan-regional groups such as the Jemaah Islamiah which has been accused of carrying out the deadly Jakarta's Marriot Hotel bomb attack on Tuesday.

War hawks accountable

The deputy premier also said Malaysia has no regrets that it adopted a clear anti-war position with regards to the conflict in Iraq despite possible repercussions by powerful nations.

"(Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad) spoke out in a manner which many world leaders wanted to but could not. We are an open economy, greatly dependent on trade and investments from the West. By vehemently opposing war, we had much to lose," he said.

Despite this, Abdullah said there was "clear unanimity" in opposition to the war as it would mean "forsaking the lives of innocent people and allowing international laws and institutions to be sidelined".

"Of course, neither Malaysia nor the millions of people who marched, petitioned and lit candles against the war succeeded in preventing it but history ought to record that this war was not our war," he said.

Peace awards

Abdullah said that to ensure peaceful co-existence, global public opinion against war must be sustained.

"People's power may not have prevented the war against Iraq but it is today holding accountable some of the governments that decided to support the war," he added.

The two-day conference in Kuala Lumpur was organised by the Malaysian World Peace Foundation, headed by a local Chinese entrepreneur, Lim Kok Wing.

The foundation also launched two peace awards which were awarded to foreign heads of state.

The inaugural Kuala Lumpur World Peace Award was presented to French President Jacques Chirac for his country's steadfast opposition to the Iraq war while the Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to former Czech President Vaclav Havel.