US President George W Bush's attempt to separate the beheading of an American in Iraq from the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US troops cut no ice with Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi today.

Questioned about the grisly decapitation at a news conference, Abdullah - who currently chairs the 57-member Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) made it clear that he saw a link with the prison scandal.

He said he was "very shocked" by pictures of both the abuse of Iraqis and the beheading of the American.

"Violence begets violence, that's what it's all about," he said. "We must find the root causes and stop all this violence."

Bush on Wednesday condemned the "barbaric" beheading of Nicholas Berg in Iraq and rejected any link between the execution and the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US troops.

No justification

A day after a grisly video of Berg's death appeared on an Islamist Internet site, Bush flatly dismissed the claim by his killers that they were avenging the humiliation prisoners had suffered at the hands of US soldiers in Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad.

"There is no justification for the brutal execution of Nicholas Berg, no justification whatsoever," Bush told reporters.

Abdullah was speaking on the sidelines of a committee meeting of the 117-nation Non-Aligned Movement of developing countries which he chairs along with the OIC, the world's largest grouping of Muslim states.

Malaysia, which is considered by the US as an ally in the "war on terrrorism", strongly opposed the invasion of Iraq, saying it would lead to more terrorism. - AFP