KUALA LUMPUR, 24 February 2003 — The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is to deliver a sharp rebuke to US President George W. Bush by rejecting his “axis of evil” description of three of its members, according to a draft statement finalized yesterday.
The 114-nation body will also accuse the United States of using the war on terror as an excuse for threatening to attack Iraq, said the statement to be tabled for adoption at the NAM summit starting today.
“The heads of state or government rejected the use, or the threat of use, of armed forces against any NAM country under the pretext of combating terrorism,” the statement added, in an apparent reference to the United States’ policy toward Iraq.
The draft also said Israelis suspected of war crimes against Palestinians should be tried in the International Criminal Court.
Also yesterday, Malaysian President Mahathir Mohamad said Western nations were targeting Muslims rather than weapons of mass destruction.
Mahathir cited the West’s “mild” reaction to North Korea’s nuclear drive as proof that the looming Iraqi conflict was aimed at Islam rather than disarming Saddam Hussein.
“The fact that North Korea’s open admission that it has weapons of mass destruction has met only with mild admonishment by the West seems to prove that indeed it is against Muslims and not against the fear of possession of weapons of mass destruction by the so-called rogue states,” he told a NAM business forum.
