Barisan Nasional women members of Parliament today urged the United States to "have a heart" and stop their attacks in Afghanistan during Ramadan.

Napsiah Omar (BN-Kuala Pilah), who represented the women, said they opposed the bombings on Afghanistan, which has resulted in thousands fleeing the country, during the Ramadan period which starts in mid-November.

She added that they also wanted to convey a message through the media to US President George Bush that Malaysians condemned terrorism and the attacks on New York's World Trade Center and Washington's Pentagon on Sept 11 which resulted in the death of more than 6,000 people.

The US government then struck retaliatory attacks against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan over its refusal to hand over the main suspect for the Sept 11 attacks, Osama bin Laden. Osama is in Afghanistan as the "guest" of the regime.

"As wives, mothers and women, we understand how the Americans feel, we understand their anguish and pain but on humanitarian grounds, please stop the bombings on Afghanistan during the fasting period," she said.

"We understand because we, too, have been through 40 years of emergency period in our war against communism when we lost our loved ones who were irreplaceable," she told reporters at the Parliament lobby.

Asked if the plea was only for the attacks to be stopped during the holy month, Napsiah said, "We'll cross the bridge when we come to it."

Accompanying her at the press conference were P Komala Devi (BN-Kapar), Mastika Junaidah Husin (BN-Arau) and Seripah Norli Syed Hussin (BN-Sepang).

Blankets

Meanwhile, Seripah said that Wanita Umno has collected 50,000 blankets to be distributed to war victims in Afghanistan.

Mastika said that Wanita Umno's International Bureau with the collaboration of the Women and Family Development Ministry under Shahrizat Abdul Jalil is planning to send a delegation to Afghanistan.

However, the plan has yet to materialise though the women were serious about it.