JEDDAH, 21 October — Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad was at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce yesterday to formally launch the 2003 Jeddah Economic Forum. Mahathir partook in an hour-long question-and-answer session under the forum theme, "Global Competitiveness: Thinking Globally, Acting Locally."

He urged Saudi Arabia and other developing nations to join the WTO so that they could bring about change from within that would benefit developing countries. Saudi Arabia is currently involved in intense negotiations with the WTO for possible membership.

"Once a part of the WTO, it is important to become an active member," Mahathir said, "because you don’t want the WTO just to benefit the stronger, richer countries. Some of the richer countries have a set agenda when attending WTO meeting. So it’s important for everyone involved to be a part of the decision-making process in order to make sure the rules benefit everybody."

The prime minister also elaborated on comments he made in Pakistan on Friday that Muslim states should use their oil reserves as a strategic weapon. "The Muslim states have a lot of oil, which can be used as part of our strategy. After the 1967 defeat, the production of oil was decreased and prices rose," he said, in reference to the subsequent 1973 oil embargo against the United States in protest at its support of Israel.

Mahathir did not elaborate on whether the oil weapon should be used vis-a-vis a possible US-led attack on Iraq.

However, the Malaysian prime minister gave Southeast Asian rival Singapore a clear guarantee that it would not use its water as a "strategic weapon" in the future, while reiterating earlier comments that Singapore is still "not coming up with the right price" in the continuing negotiations between the two countries on the issue of Malaysian water supply to the tiny neighboring city state.

He also touched on a possible American-led strike on Iraq. "You can take over Iraq or any other country but that does not mean people will not launch further attacks, because all it takes is one person to cause a sufficient amount of damage," he told reporters.

"Not only are Palestinians oppressed in their land, but they are being killed openly and it is practically being bragged about," he elaborated. "You have to find out why people blow themselves up. There has to be a reason. They have families and children."