Malaysian PM calls for more active role in Palestinian issue

"We have time and again witnessed how efforts for peace for Palestine invariably got stymied in the UN Security Council, for reasons which are familiar to us. Furthermore, I have been keenly aware that in the last two decades global civil society has emerged as an important actor in the international arena," the prime minister said when officially opening the three-day Conference on Peace in Palestine in Putrajaya, Federal Administrative Center.

The conference, organized by Peace Malaysia, an umbrella body of local non-governmental organizations, is attended by some 400 local and foreign civil society activists.

Abdullah said the activist role of the civil society was widely acknowledged and had left a distinct and indelible mark on a number of global campaigns such as the dismantling of the apartheid regime in South Africa.

"Civil society has also played a prominent role in respect of the opposition to the war on Iraq," he said.

Civil society groups, he said, had in fact been showing deep concern over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since the early 1970's.

"Like the struggle against apartheid, the struggle of the Palestinian people against Israeli occupation of their country enjoys enormous support from the global community. Therefore a more concrete expression of this support by global society is timely and fitting," he said.

"We have an obligation to help ensure a just and lasting peace in the region, which is the wish and desire, not only of the Palestinian people but also that of all people of conscience everywhere," he said.

Touching on the United Nations, Abdullah said the global community certainly desires an early and lasting resolution of the conflict based on the UN relevant resolutions and these resolutions could provide the basis for a permanent settlement to the conflict.

"It is time for the UN, specially the Security Council, to playa pivotal role and pro-active role in resolving the conflict," he added.

He also hoped that the recent meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon would lead to increased confidence between the two sides.

The international community has appealed to Palestine and Israel to settle their conflict through continuos negotiations on the basis of UN Security Council Resolutions particularly No. 242 and No. 338, the land-for-peace formula and roadmap peace plan, which provide for establishing an independent Palestinian State alongside with Israel. Enditem

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