Mahathir presses for UN reforms to lift world out of war fears

Mahathir, a moderate Muslim leader who opposed the US-led Iraq war, said the "risk of being invaded and occupied is real" because no one dared to criticise powerful countries.

He said it was unfortunate that countries had to invest heavily in defence because "warlike predators" remained in the world.

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"Peace is possible if we make exceptions for no one in terms of submission to the only international authority that we have, the United Nations," he said when opening a two-day peace conference here.

"It is presently not a democratic organisation, prevented from being so by the very people who preach democracy but it is still the only international authority that we have.

"We have to make it work. And it can work if powerful countries restore its credibility by respecting it and the decisions made by it."

Southeast Asia's longest-serving leader took a swipe at rich countries, saying they developed "state-of-the-art murder weapons" and there was therefore "an itch to test these weapons in real war conditions."

"And so little wars are encouraged so these weapons can be tested. Off and on, a fairly major war would be launched deliberately for no very good reason," he said, without making any reference.

"The weapons are gleefully used in these real life tests and their effectiveness are evaluated so that they can be improved and made even more lethal."

But he also condemned Islamic terrorist groups, saying Muslims can only fight in self-defense but "many Muslims invoke Islam when they commit un-Islamic things."

Mahathir, 77, who is due to retire end-October after 22 years in power, renewed a call for the rich to be taxed as part of "affirmative action" to narrow wealth gap between countries and to curb terrorism.

"The world needs affirmative action between countries so that the disparities between rich and poor countries worldwide are reduced and tension minimised," he said.

"Only when wealth is fairly and evenly distributed in the globalised world community, will we be free from the tensions, the bitterness and the anger which make the deprived resort to violence and terrorism."

Mahathir said poor countries need not rely on the rich forever but should be helped through provision of necessary basic amenities.