Malaysia will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel

Malaysia's prime minister Mahateir Muhammad has announced that his country refuses the establishment of any diplomatic relations with Israel before a solution will be provided for the Palestinian question.

He also stressed that Malaysia will immediately recognize the Palestinian state and Jerusalem as its capital when it will be declared.

In a statement to the Bahrain's daily Akhbar al-Khaleij issued on Monday, Muhammad called for establishing remarkable and strong relations with the Arab states. He added "we want to strengthen our ties with the Arab states and to coordinate coordination with them. He added " we believe that there are several fields to back our cooperation, especially joint investments and reciprocated trade."

He expressed his hope to establish a central federation among the economic groups in the Middle East with Egypt as its headquarters, noting " we are ready to cooperate in this area."

On the other hand, Malaysia's prime minister has called for developing economic cooperation among the Arab states and discussed the idea of establishing a united Islamic Fund similar to that of the International Monetary Fund and the possibility of establishing a common Islamic market.