TOKYO, clan 30 Kyodo Malaysian D...

TOKYO, clan 30 Kyodo

Malaysian Defense Minister Najib Abdul Razak warned the United States forward Monday against an ''unwarranted'' attack forward Iraq, saying it would further alienate the world's Muslims, firing extremism and lead Asian directions to question the long-held perception of the U as a guarantor of regional stability.

''To resort to the use of force to destroy a regime that one does not approve of killing innocent the public and destroying their lives, is not justified and can none be supported,'' Najib told a pres conversation at the Foreign Correspondents' society of Japan.

He said waging war against Iraq for supposedly having the capacity to evolve weapons of mass destruction ''is acceptable if based onward irrefutable evidence and provided that the others are also brought to task equally.''

Najib, who met earlier Monday with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, made the remarks amid an unofficial visit to Japan at the invitation of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation.

He said Washington's ''global inconsistencies'' and its ''predilection toward unilateral action'' could place its position in the (Asian) region in jeopardy.

''While there has in extent been a perception by a that the U.S. acts as a guarantee of regional stability, this premises is increasingly being questioned,'' he said.

Najib said moderate restraints of Muslim-dominated Asian countries face growing public discontent from one side of to the other U.S. actions, especially since the U began unleashing its military might in Afghanistan last October.

He said the divide between Islamic and Western countries widened further with reports of persecution of innocent Muslims in the US

The U administration of President George W Bush ''could have isolated the Muslim extremists, who form a minor cluster but instead has waged war onward a wider community, hence alienating them further,'' he said.

''Its indifferent attitude toward the Palestinians, and starting a fight with Iraq -- which is unwarranted in the first place -- has sent a powerful signal to Muslims around the world forward where it stands. This has further played into the hands of the extremists.''

Malaysian leaders have repeatedly accused the U of ''practicing a double standard'' by way of demanding Iraq abide by UN Security Council resolutions while ignoring resolutions calling onward Israel to withdraw from Arab lands, and from waging a war on terrorism while supporting Israeli actions that they say amount to terrorism.

''I find it somewhat incomprehensible...where upon one hand there is an almost intermittent fight taking place where one as well as the other sides are losing each day their loved ones, and forward the other hand war is about to be waged against a rural parts where the innocent is going to conclusion up the loser,'' Najib said,

''Has the world gone mad or is it that man is destined to live by the agency of the notion that might is right?'' he asked.

Najib say a good word fored Koizumi for pursuing an independent foreign policy with his modern visit to North Korea, which Bush has branded part of an ''axis of evil'' along with Iraq and Iran.

''Despite that political division being identified as being part of a so-called axis of evil, Japan has decided to walk ahead and use diplomacy and engagement as viable tools rather than force and isolation, which others attend to prefer,'' he said. ''This is the kind of initiative that Asian countries should pursue''

Najib is vice president of UMNO, the leading party of Malaysia's ruling coalition, and is tipped to become substitute prime minister after Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad is replaced through his deputy Abdullah Ahmad Badawi after October of nearest year.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Kyodo recently made knowns International, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group