Morocco, Malaysia decry Israeli savage aggression against Palestinian people
Morocco-Malaysia, Politics, 4/16/2002

Morocco and Malaysia on Tuesday decried "the barbarous and savage aggression perpetrated by Israeli premier Ariel Sharon against the Palestinian people."

This came at a meeting in Rabat Tuesday between the two countries' Prime Ministers, Abderrahmane youssoufi and Mohamed Mahatir, who is currently on a three-day official visit to Morocco.

Youssoufi told reporters after the meeting that the two sides "discussed the situation in Palestine and decried the savage and barbarous repression led by Sharon."

Youssoufi, who called for more efforts on the part of Muslim nations to compel Israel withdraw from the occupied territories, said Morocco and Malaysia are determined to spare no effort to make the Islamic Ummah (Nation) use all its weight to convince the international community to compel Israel into implementing the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.

For Mahatir, Moroccan-Malaysian cooperation will contribute to reinforcing inter-Islamic cooperation at large, particularly in these crucial circumstances wherein the Islamic Ummah is facing several problems, "including the terrorist aggression against the Palestinians." "By pooling efforts and having converging views, we can overcome this problem," he said.

"We have tried to define terrorism, but certain peoples are compelled to resort to certain acts, described as terrorist, because they do not have other means to defend their denied rights," Mahatir said.

The best means to eradicate terrorism, he said, is to uproot its origins. The Israeli invasion of the Palestinian territories is one of the causes of these acts, he insisted. "There exist other causes, namely the injustice befalling Muslims in several parts of the world," said Mahatir, calling on the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to consolidate its role with a view to handling this phenomenon.

Regarding the proposal made by Sharon to hold an international peace conference, Youssoufi said the proposal "is under scrutiny," while Mahatir stressed "We cannot negotiate under the threat of arms." "Israel should first withdraw from the Palestinian territories," he insisted.

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