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Malaysian Islamic Party Declares Jihad Against U.S.
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 10 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The U.S. is making more enemies in the Muslim world and rising protests against its attacks on Afghanistan may shake loose its coalition against terror, Malaysian opposition members said Wednesday.
The Islamic Party Of Malaysia (PAS) on Wednesday declared a "jihad", or struggle, against the U.S.-led attacks in Afghanistan and gave the go-ahead for its members to join the Taliban in the resistance.
However, the party added that its definition of jihad covered a wide range of appeals including calling for peace.
"If there are any PAS members who would like to go for jihad, we cannot stop them because
jihad is a religious duty," PAS secretary-general Nasaruddin Isa told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"They don't need to seek party approval if they wish to take up the fight in Afghanistan."
In Malaysia, several imams delivered similar speeches, demanding Muslims to do what they could to assist the Afghans in the fight against the U.S.
They also said that Muslims in Malaysia had a duty to fly to Afghanistan and fight for
jihad.
The Malaysian government, as well, has adopted an anti-U.S. attack against any Muslim country position and has been accused by jailed opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, of having turned its media against the U.S.
However, on Wednesday, a government owned newspaper said the Taliban's treatment of women in Afghanistan was un-Islamic and urged its readers to abhor to such practices.
A television station, TV3, made a presentation of the Taliban's ruling regarding women, indicating in between the show that the "strict rulings against women" were un-Islamic.
Observers say the Malaysian government is trying to dose local Muslims with secularism, as well as balancing its criticism against the U.S. to secure a share in the rising tide of anti-U.S. sentiments in the country.
On Wednesday, the PAS, which has some 800,000 members, said that its leadership had agreed on a
jihad and its targets were the enemies of Islam, Nasaruddin said.
But he added that PAS's definition of jihad covered a "wide spectrum including calling for peace, calling for justice and not just taking up arms".
"We cannot stop anybody who wants to go and fight but we are not saying that we are going to create a troop to do that. PAS is also not going to sponsor anyone," he said.
PAS leaders on Monday labeled American's as "war criminals", saying the strikes in Afghanistan were not only against the Taliban rulers accused of sheltering prime U.S. suspect Osama bin Laden, but were a direct assault on Muslims.
"Until today, there is no proof, or evidence to relate Osama bin Laden to the September 11th tragedy" in which New York and Washington were attacked, Nasaruddin said.
"It is clear that Washington and London have acted against basic principles of law and justice by attacking the defenseless people of Afghanistan."
The PAS plans to stage a protest against the U.S.-British attacks outside the U.S. embassy in Kuala Lumpur Friday.
PAS youth chief Mahfuz Omar said party president Fadzil Noor and spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat would hand over a memorandum protesting the U.S. strikes there.
"Party members and opposers of the attack on Afghanistan will be gathering outside the embassy after Friday prayers," he told AFP.
Mahfuz had earlier handed in a memorandum to United Nations offices here condemning the U.N.'s "failure to deal with international terrorism, including allowing the U.S. to carry out the biggest act of terrorism of this century in Afghanistan".
"The purpose of the attacks by the U.S. and Britain in Afghanistan are not to fight terrorism, but more to kill innocent Muslims," the memorandum read.
However, Mahfuz said the party did not have plans to send military help to the Taliban. "We will not be recruiting people to send over to Afghanistan, we will wait and monitor the situation," he said.
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