NAM's United Voice Can Help Avert War: Mahathir

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, February 18, 2003

NAM's United Voice Can Help Avert War: Mahathir

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The voice of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) members speaking individually might not be effective but their collective voice and stand could be effective over the Iraq issue, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Monday.

The big powers rarely wanted to listen to the voice of NAM but whether they liked it or not they had to listen to NAM this time around following the global protests against the planned war, Mahathir said in a program which was aired over local TV Monday evening in conjunction with the 13th NAM Summit here.

Malaysia for the first time will host the 13th NAM Summit from Feb. 20 to Feb. 25.

Moves by NAM to join the world movement in opposing war on Iraqcan influence the big powers to back off their decision to attack that country, he said.

The prime minister said the United States and Britain now had to consider the worldwide opposition to and demonstrations againsttheir plans to wage war on Iraq.

"We have no military and financial strength but we can join theworld movement to oppose war on moral grounds, about how bad it isto use war to settle a problem," he said.

Mahathir said one focus of the NAM Summit was to drive home thepoint that big countries should not resort to military action to change a government they did not like.

"We do not agree that the government of a country not suitable to big countries be changed by military means through pre-emptive strike. If this thing is allowed to happen, maybe other countries will also suffer the same fate in the future," he said.

Meanwhile, he said NAM still had a role to promote the well-being of South countries although the principle of non-alignment was now no longer that meaningful following the end of the confrontation between the Eastern and Western blocs.

Mahathir said NAM member countries should oppose policies whichdid not benefit South countries.

NAM was established in 1961 to signal their neutrality during the Cold War era. Today, with a membership of 114 nations, NAM plays a significant role in the post-Cold War world as custodian of Southern interests.

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