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Pravda: Is Malaysia A Shelter For Terrorists? By Vasily Bubnov 31/1/2002 3:36 pm Thu |
[Apa yang menarik dalam rencana ini ialah apa yang tertera
di perenggan yang terakhir... keranamu Mahathir, Malaysia tercemar.
- Editor] Pravda The authorities of Malaysia will soon face hard times. Malaysian
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad had to refute the information
published by Newsweek that ex-officer of Malaysia's army and
member of the Jemaa Islamija terrorist organization Yazit Sufaat
cooperated with Al Qaeda and assisted with the development of
terrorist activity in the region. The Prime Minister said: 'Malaysia had
nothing to do with the Sept. 11 terrorist acts.' However Newsweek
refers to secret data of the Federal Bureau of Investigations in the
article. In addition, Malaysian authorities arrested 48 people
(including Yazit Sufaat himself), who are suspected of connections
with Al Qaeda. At the same time, Mahathir Mohammad admits that
Malaysian citizens have been trained in the militant camps in
Afghanistan and Pakistan. The authorities of Malaysia are rather loyal to the foreign extremists
on the territory of the country. Information about the presence of the
leaders of Chechen militants in the country has appeared a long ago.
It is an open secret that Aslan Maskhadov's family is in Malaysia
now. However, sometimes, it is even said that Maskhadov himself is
in Malaysia too. If it is true, how do the authorities of Malaysia treat
the fact that Maskhadov plays one of the key roles in the events in
Chechnya? But no wonder, especially regarding the fact that Turkish
authorities refuse to extradite such and odious person as Movladi
Udugov to Russia. It is important that Turkey, unlike Malaysia, is a
NATO member. Now, NATO is working on the improvement of
relations with Russia, especially in the struggle with terrorism.
However, the struggle with terrorism and Islamic solidarity (as it is
treated in some countries) are quite different things. In addition,
Turkey is extremely important for the alliance, which is why Brussels
and Washington do not venture to exert excessive pressure on it. But
let us remember how Chechen emissaries have been recently
received in London and Washington. The meetings demonstrated the
actual attitude of the leadership of both countries to Russia's efforts
in the struggle with the militants. There is no doubt that, under US pressure, the authorities of
Malaysia will keep on fighting with the domestic accomplices of the
terrorists. It is more important to what extent the efforts will be
effective. And how will Washington react to it?
In any case, the Malaysian authorities are to treat the article in
Newsweek as a notification. The US administration does not seem to
be sufficiently pleased with the scale of Malaysia's struggle with
terrorism. Now, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad will have to
assure the USA that Malaysia is not a shelter for Al Qaeda militants.
Otherwise, Malaysia is threatened with being placed on America's
'black list' of terrorist accomplices.
Vasily Bubnov PRAVDA.Ru Translated by Maria Gousseva
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