Materia Medica Malaysiana

KL to send medical team to Iraq


KL to send medical team to Iraq
By Roger Mitton

WASHINGTON - Malaysia is ready to send a medical team to Iraq and mobilise an international Muslim force to rehabilitate the war-torn country, said Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Monday, after talks with US President George W. Bush.

Datuk Seri Abdullah, who is chairman of the 57-member Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), said the world will risk another failure in nation-building if Iraq is left in the cold at this stage.

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'We are prepared to rally support among Muslim countries for OIC participation in rebuilding Iraq and strengthening its institutions of governance and its economic system,' he said.

The meeting between the two leaders came after a long period of strained ties between the US and Malaysia - and went well apparently.

Datuk Seri Abdullah said: 'Bilateral relations between the United States and Malaysia are certainly very strong.'

On many levels, that is unquestionably true. Economic ties have never been better. Malaysia is now the 10th largest trading partner of the US.

Cooperation in defence and security matters has improved tremendously. And compared to his predecessor, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Datuk Seri Abdullah is much appreciated in Washington.

Mr Peter Singer, director of the US-Islamic World relations programme at the Brookings Institution, said: 'He's far less controversial and so therefore it makes the relationship a lot less bumpy.'

Mr Bush also thanked Datuk Seri Abdullah 'for the cooperation on counter-terrorism efforts'.

Ms Angel Rabasa, a senior policy analyst at the Rand Corporation, said: 'The perception in Washington is that Malaysia's cooperation has been quite good in countering terrorism. So they each have a vested interest in putting their best foot forward.'

That said, some felt the Malaysian leader deserved a higher profile reception. He was squeezed in for barely half an hour between Mr Bush's lunch with the Chilean President and his photo-shoot for an American automobile race.

As a result, the US media gave his visit little, if any, coverage. That reinforced a common perception that the US has failed to fully utilise the example of Malaysia and other moderate, pro-development Muslim nations.

However, Datuk Seri Abdullah did not shirk from reiterating his country's opposition to recent actions by the Bush administration.

Malaysia opposed the invasion of Iraq from the start. It was an action that has 'inflicted a terrible blow to international relations', he said.

He said Muslims still doubted the good faith of the US in tackling the root causes of terrorism, but he also welcomed recent developments, notably the setting up of an Iraqi interim government.