Malaysia: Statement - US War on Afghanistan Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit source - "Charles F. Moreira" Mon, 29 Oct 2001 Comrades, Here is a statement against the attacks against Afghanistan by Malaysia's Barisan Alternatif (Alternative Front) -- a coalition of opposition parties -- ie. Pan Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), KeADILan (Justice) Party (of Anwar Ibrahim) and the Parti Rakyat Malaysia (Malaysian People's Party). All are bourgeois and bourgeois nationalist parties. Charles Kenyataan Media - BARISAN ALTERNATIF 27 Oktober 2001 US Attack On Afghanistan The US-led military campaign to punish Afghanistan's ruling Taliban for their refusal to surrender Osama bin Laden and other members of the al-Qaeda network is now entering its fourth week, and shows no signs of abating. In fact, it appears to be intensifying with a sharp increase in the number of deaths and injuries among the civilian population. The Barisan Alternatif (BA) is greatly disturbed by the growing number of civilian casualties. It is said that civilian deaths are now already in the hundreds. It is a most terrible injustice that civilians, especially women and children, who have not had any hand in the terrorist attacks upon the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, should have to pay for the violent crimes of others. We call for an immediate end to US-led military strikes against Afghanistan. In addition to civilian deaths, these strikes have also led to a sharp escalation of tensions between Islam and the West as well as to an increased radicalization within Muslim society. We urge the UN General Assembly to call for an end to the war. The United Nations should not sit by complacently while the US and its allies unleash their military might upon Afghanistan - in clear violation of international law. The UN's entire credibility is at stake if it remains silent and allows itself to be sidelined in this matter. Those who have committed terrorist attacks should be brought to justice. We believe however that this has to be done through non- violent means and in full accordance with international law. It is unfortunate that so little effort and emphasis have been given to non- violent means of addressing this crisis and that military action seems to have become the first rather than the last option. Finally, we wish to emphasize that there can be no militaristic solution to the problem of terrorism. We emphasized in an earlier statement issued before the bombardment of Afghanistan that in order to deal with the challenge posed by terrorism, the root causes of resentment, bitterness and hatred that exist in many parts of the world have to be addressed. There is no quick fix. We wish to reiterate here the same view. In this connection, we strongly condemn the recent intensification of Israeli State Terrorism over the land and people of Palestine. This State Terror must be made to stop, because it constitutes one of the root causes of international terrorism. Dato' Ustaz Fadzil Noor, Presiden PAS Dr. Wan Azizah Ismail, Presiden keADILan Dr. Syed Husin Ali, Presiden PRM ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytas-10.29.01-03:47:43-25403