DIALOGUE IMPORTANT IN CONFLICT RESOLUTION, EVERYDAY DECISIONS - PM

KUALA LUMPUR, March 8 (Bernama) -- Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak
said Sunday the value of dialogue in conflict resolution was not only applicable
to military conflicts but also in everyday decisions.

He said if we as Malaysians were willing to listen, discuss and be
analytical and fair in making decisions and compromises, and not succumb to the
oftentimes irrational and short-term decisions driven by anger, Godwilling, we
would find that better solution and better understanding of each other that we
all hope and search for.

"I am sure many of you will relate the importance of this value in recent
events domestically and internationally," he said in his www.1malaysia.com.my
blog Sunday.

He said the importance of this served as a reminder to him during the
confrontation between the Islamic deviationist group, Al-Ma'unah and the
Malaysian armed forces in Sauk, Perak in July 2000.

"Violence and aggression may appear the easiest and quickest choice, but the
consequences are almost always costly than if we choose the path of discourse,"
he said.


In the incident, when Najib was the Defence Minister then, a commando with
the elite force Mathew anak Medan and a police detective R. Sagadevan were
killed by the militants.

During Najib's visit to Sarawak last month, he had taken the opportunity to
call on Mathew's elderly parents, Medan anak Nunying and Landun anak Ngumbang,
who live in Rumah Meruan in Nanga Tada, about 80 kilometres outside Sibu.

"What connects me to this elderly Iban couple was the most suspenseful and
perilous event (the Sauk incident) in my 14-year career as Minister of Defense,"
he said.

Recalling the incident, Najib said he was advised by Dr Mahathir Mohamad
(the prime minsister then) and his senior military officers not to be at the
front lines of the armed forces during the confrontation, but he kept himself
not far from the conflict area nonetheless.

"Although it was not the practice for the Minister to assume actual command
of the military, due to the highly political nature of the confrontation, I was
consulted on making the final push to neutralise the group.

"We had already lost two brave men; there were grave ramifications if we
were to lose more. In order to minimise casualties, my instructions were to wait
until the last possible minute to move forward with the final attempt to talk
them into surrendering and the attack should talks fail.

"Thank God, in the final moments of the event, we did not lose a single man
and were able to apprehend the group and its leader," he said.

-- BERNAMA