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Mahathir asks Muslims to vote out Bush

By Khalid Hasan

WASHINGTON: Former Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohammad has appealed to American Muslims not to vote for George Bush on November 2.

In an open letter sent to the community, believed to number seven million, the former prime minister said during the past four years of the Bush presidency, the Muslims and their countries had suffered oppression and humiliation as never before in the history of Islam.

“There is an obvious connection between the sufferings of the Muslims and the policies and thinking of Bush. We cannot expect much change to the policies of the United States of America towards Islam and the Muslims under Democrats as under Republicans. But we have a duty to ensure that Bush will not be able to determine our fate for four more years,” he said.

Kerry, the Malaysian leader conceded, may not be any different, but the candidates for the presidency of the United States must be made aware that in democratic America, Muslim citizens have a voice and can influence the selection of the rulers of the country. “Bush has shown that despite his protests, he is the cause of the tragedies in Afghanistan, Palestine and Iraq. People, including children, women, sick and disabled people, have been and are being killed in these countries who otherwise would be alive today. Under the pretext of attacking terrorists, whole towns and villages with their populations are being destroyed by rockets and bombs. In Palestine, Israeli gun-ships and tanks razed villages and towns to the ground killing innocent men, women and children. All these are done with the approval of President Bush and his veto in the United Nations Security Council. There is no doubt that he will continue to do this if re-elected,” he told American Muslims. He said he did not wish to dwell on the atrocities committed against the Muslims and Islam, but would like to appeal to Muslim citizens and voters of America to be united and to cast their votes against Bush, in the name of justice, in the name of Islam. “You may not be numerous enough but in marginal constituencies you can make a difference. It is your bounden duty to send a message to candidates that they must be fair to all the communities in the United States if they wish to rule the country. Even if you fail to unseat Bush, you can at least reduce his majority,” concluded the message.

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