Malaysia Doesn't Support Unilateral Military Action against Iraq

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, January 09, 2003

Malaysia Doesn't Support Unilateral Military Action against Iraq

Malaysian Foreign Minister SyedHamid Albar has reassured Iraq that Malaysia will not support any unilateral action against it.

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Malaysian Foreign Minister SyedHamid Albar has reassured Iraq that Malaysia will not support any unilateral action against it.

There should not be any pre-emptive strike on Iraq as the Iraqis had given their full cooperation to the United Nations weapons inspectors as required by UN Resolution 1441, Syed Hamid told reporters after a meeting with visiting Iraqi Minister for Industry and Mineral Muyassar Rija Shalah Thursday in Kuala Lumpur.

Syed Hamid said that outside forces should allow the Iraqi people to choose the path the country should take and not force a new regime down the people's throats.

The minister also said that Malaysia would extend economic and trade activities with Iraq despite the country being named as one of the "axis of evils" by the United States.

Between January and October 2002, trade between the two countries amounted to 66.8 million US dollars, almost entirely made up of Malaysian exports while imports from Iraq were negligible.

Meanwhile, Muyassar said Iraq had given its fullest cooperation to the UN weapons inspectors over the last two months and was confident "if the inspectors were professionals they would say in the report that Iraq does not have any weapons of mass destruction."

Muyassar, also head of the Iraq-Malaysia Joint Commission, is attending a three-day meeting of the commission which began Wednesday.

He said the UN weapons inspectors visited some 240 sites in Iraq, which were identified by Britain as potential sites for weapons of mass destruction, and had not found anything damaging.

"We expect them to submit a report on the inspection on Jan. 27,we have been transparent and expect that on professional and technical basis we are clear of any wrongdoing," Muyassar added.

The United States has increased deployment of troops in the Gulf to some 120,000 for a potential war with Iraq, according to press reports.

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