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Muslims should have nukes: Mahathir

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: Muslim nations in the Middle East should arm themselves with nuclear weapons to deter Western enemies from attacking them, former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Friday.

“They should have tanks, warplanes, warships, guns and missiles,” Mahathir said. “Yes, they need to have nuclear weapons too, because only with the possession of such would their enemies be deterred from attacking them.”

Mahathir, 81, who retired as prime minister in 2003, remains highly respected and influential throughout the Muslim world. He is currently on a lecture tour of Central and South Asia, and was addressing a conference on religious tolerance in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad.

When asked whether Muslim nations in the Middle East should acquire nuclear weapons, Mahathir replied, “Well, if you allow Israel to have them, why should the others not have them too?”Israel – which has neither confirmed nor denied reports that it possesses nuclear arms – is generally believed to have the world’s sixth-largest stockpile of such weapons, including hundreds of warheads.

Mahathir, a frequent critic of the Jewish state and its nuclear arsenal, stressed that he believed in a world free of nuclear weapons.

“All nations should (give up) nuclear weapons, in particular the very belligerent United States,” said Mahathir.

He said that the US-led war against terrorism had turned into a war against Islam and Muslims, because only countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and Syria were currently being targeted.

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