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KUALA LUMPUR: Iraq's plunge into violence since Saddam Hussein's fall has stirred enmities that will kill more Iraqis than ever perished under his reign, former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Wednesday.
"They have disturbed a hornet's nest. I know Saddam is not the nicest person in the world but by the time this thing ends, more Iraqis are going to be killed than Saddam ever did," Mr Mahathir said in an interview. "The Iraqis are being made to suffer in order to save them and I don't believe in that," he said. Mahathir Mohamad handed power to Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in October.
Mr Mahathir said the risks of terror attacks in Iraq and around the globe have rocketed since the invasion, rejecting US President George Bush's suggestion the world was better off with Saddam Hussein out of power.
"Is it better off now? I think it is worse off. Today, the fear of terrorism is far greater," he said in reference to Mr Bush's remarks during a news conference on Tuesday. "Fear of terrorism in Iraq certainly was not there before and is now," added Mr Mahathir, who said the March 11 bombings in Madrid showed the dangers posed to the rest of the world.
"Now you look after the railway stations but can you be sure that they will not attack other things? So the world is going to spend huge sums of money trying to secure itself only to find that it is not secure."
The former Malaysian leader said any solution would have to include Palestine, allowing Palestinians to claim back territories they lost to Israel. "Israel cannot just say: 'Well, we have America behind us, we can do what we like. We can assassinate anybody.' "They may be able to do that but the people who will suffer will be the Americans," he said.
MYANMAR: On Myanmar, Mahathir Mohamad, champion of the country's entry into Southeast Asia's political mainstream, said Yangon's progress was disappointing. But the outspoken Mahathir said the ruling generals would need assurances over their fate before agreeing to political change.
"I am in a way a bit disappointed because the progress is so slow but in Myanmar things move very slow," Mr Mahathir said.
He was speaking a day after Myanmar's government freed two senior members of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) from house arrest, but gave no sign of releasing party leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Putting pressure on the generals was unlikely to help.
"You cannot solve this problem by a confrontational attitude," Mr Mahathir said, adding that the generals were mindful of history. "Examples in the past do not really encourage authoritarian governments to give up power," the ex-premier said.
"They see people who have been in authority before, the moment they consented to democracy, they were defeated in elections and thrown into jail, even sentenced to death. "You need to give some assurance regarding what will be the fate of these people before they can cooperate." -Reuters
