Foreign Affairs Minister Syed Hamid Albar today urged the United Nations to play a leading role in resolving the conflict in Afghanistan without any interference from other countries.

"UN must act on its own and not be seen as acting according to the wishes of certain countries, or else its credibility will be compromised.

"Currently, it is seen as unfree and controlled," the minister told reporters after the closing of a two-day conference on terrorism in Kuala Lumpur.

Syed Hamid reiterated the government's call to stop the air strikes on Afghanistan since the Taliban government has been crippled and several of its cities seized by the opposition Northern Alliance.

"We think they should stop (the strikes), they have brought down the Taliban and they should now send ground forces," he said.

"UN must come in and play its role so that a broad-based government can be formed," he added.

The government condemned the Sept 11 terrorist attacks on the United States but maintained that the US should not wage a war against Afghanistan where prime suspect Osama bin Laden is hiding.

Syed Hamid also urged the 56-nation Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) to work together and put forward a cohesive stand on the ongoing war against terror launched by the US.

He said though the US kept assuring that the war was not against Islam, it is clear that the actions taken are prejudiced against Muslim countries and their religion.

"This is why all of us in OIC have to build up consensus and make sure we are relevant in the international arena.

"Right now, we feel like we are being marginalised because those who make the decisions only inform us after everything is done but never consulted us at the early stage," he said.

Negative implications

However, the minister said the new visa ruling imposed by the US should not be seen as a punishment on Muslim countries.

"It is within their rights and discretion to decide on who they want to scrutinise and check. But once they zero in on certain countries, there will be negative implications."

Syed Hamid expressed hope that the US will reconsider its decision on the new visa policy.

Last week, the US announced that it will introduce a 20-day wait for visa application for Muslim male aged between 16 and 45 in 25 Muslim countries, including Malaysia.

The 20-day wait is to enable a Washington terrorist task force to run a check on the applicant's background for past military training and weapon skills.

On whether Malaysia will send its peacekeeping troops to Afghanistan, the minister said it is too early to comment since the UN has yet to send out such a request.

"The government will give its due consideration if approached. We have enough experience and international recognition for peacekeeping effort," he said.

Double standards

During an earlier session at the same conference, DAP national chairperson Lim Kit Siang criticised the government for assuming that after the Sept 11 attacks, national interests should be advanced at the expense of democracy and human rights.

"But why should national security on the one hand and democracy on the other be placed in adversarial context," questioned Lim who was one of the panelists.

Lim said greater freedom of expression and human rights should be allowed to remove the conditions which spawn all forms of extremism and fanaticism which lead to terrorist acts.

The veteran politician also censured the government for practising double-standards by speaking about democracy and human rights at the international level but aggravating political repression and economic injustices at home.

Recently, Suhakam chairman Musa Hitam said democracy and human rights should now take a backseat following the Sept 11 attacks as national security reigns over other priorities.

This sparked off criticism from civil groups but Musa later clarified that he was speaking in his personal capacity as the former deputy prime minister.