MALAYSIA SUPPORTS CALL FOR DEADLINE TO END MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT

From Mokhtar Hussain

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, July 16 (Bernama) -- Malaysia supports the proposal
by European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana for the United Nations
Security Council to set a deadline in resolving the question of Palestine and
eventually recognise the creation of a Palestinian state.

Prime Minister Najib Razak said it was Malaysia's hope that the proposal
would be seriously considered and implemented by the Security Council.

"Malaysia continues to support the right of the Palestinian people to an
independent homeland with East Jerusalem as its capital," Najib said Wednesday
in his address at the 15th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit in this Egyptian
Red Sea resort.

The summit was officially opened by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak who
took over from Cuban President Raul Castro as chairman of the 118-member
grouping for the next three years.

Najib said the continued brutal conflict in the region needed a permanent
and comprehensive solution, adding that the Palestinians had the right to peace
and a homeland of their own.

However, Najib said, Malaysia was encouraged that the new United States
administration under President Barack Obama had reaffirmed the two-state
solution to the Middle East peace process.

Najib said there was already a dramatic change in the tone and tenor of
engagement by the US with the rest of the world, a transformation that had not
been witnessed at least since the end of the Cold War.

"We now have a United States administration that appears to be willing to
listen and to take a pragmatic rather than an ideological approach to
international relations, including on bedrock issues of NAM, such as nuclear
disarmament and non-proliferation, and the Middle East."

On the global economic crisis, the prime minister said there was great
potential for NAM member countries to trade and invest among themselves.

"While the markets in the developed world are shrinking, as their consumers
keep their wallets and purses shut, we can explore ways and means to further
increase and deepen economic cooperation among ourselves.

"There are major economies within our NAM family. We are home to rich
resources and expertise that we can marshal for the common good of our
populations."

He said Malaysia's trade with NAM countries totalled US$125 billion
last year or 35.3 per cent of its total trade, compared to trade with the US,
its major trading partner, totalling US$41.8 billion or 11.8 per cent.

With the Doha Development Round of world trade talks having stalled, NAM
countries should seek ways to boost trade among themselves and boost their
economies, he added.

Najib also proposed the application of Islamic finance principles to help
ease the current crisis and prevent it from recurring.

As the principal proponent of Islamic banking, the prime minister said
Malaysia called upon the global financial community to seriously consider
adopting the system with appropriate adjustments.

Meanwhile, on the sidelines of the summit, Najib held bilateral meetings
with President Mahmoud Abbas of the National Palestine Authority and President
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of the Phillippines.
-- BERNAMA