Annihilating alleged terrorist Osama bin Laden - even if he was responsible for the Sept 11 attacks in United States which claimed almost 7,000 lives - will not stop terrorism, said Universiti Malaya's political economist Prof K S Jomo.

"Terrorism usually involves self-righteousness, with the terrorist feeling righteously aggrieved and justifying the terrorist action in terms of the grievance felt and a sense of helplessness in terms of options available," he told malaysiakini in an interview.

"That is why many would argue that repression of Islamic dissidents would lead to an escalation of violence by militant fringe elements who see no other way to get their grievance felt and a sense of helplessness in terms of the option available."

Jomo said that to effectively contain terrorism, "injustice and unfreedom" should be eliminated. However, he said that this was not what US President George W Bush and his administration have in mind.

"They are bent on containing terrorism with their own brand of state terrorism, all in the name of security," he lamented.

Bush has deployed the US military to wage war with Afghanistan for harbouring Osama.

Rule of law

The university professor urged the US to present the evidence it said it had on Osama to the International Court of Justice, also known as the World Court.

The US has blamed Osama for the terror attacks which levelled New York's World Trade Center and damaged a section of Washington's Pentagon building two weeks ago.

Saudi-born Osama, who had vowed to wage jihad (holy war) again the US, has been linked to a number of terrorist attacks on American facilities in the Middle East and Africa. He is believed to be hiding in remote mountain camps in Afghanistan.

"If the world agrees with the US that Sept 11 was an act of war, there are many precedents for war crimes tribunals," said Jomo.

He regretted that the US opposed the setting up of the International Criminal Court in 1998, which was meant to punish international criminals and terrorists.

The US opposition was due to the fear that American citizens would also be hauled up in the international court for alleged war crimes.

According to Jomo, an open trial is important so that the world can learn more about terrorism to better able to deal with it.

"The world is not the Wild West. So-called summary justice is not acceptable in this day and age, least of all by those claiming to want to uphold the rule of law," he said.