US war on terror aims to paralyse Islam, seize oil

Islamic Party (PAS) president Abdul Hadi Awang said Washington and its allies were "openly warring against Islam" and charged that the US-led invasion of Iraq was fuelled by "hatred towards Islam and greed for oil in the Arab world.

"They are not satisfied with being gangsters in the Persian Gulf... they are behaving like bullies in the Gulf of Thailand because in Southeast Asia too, there is Islam and oil," he told the opening session of a three-day PAS congress.

"Their evil motive is none other than to paralyze the rise of Islam and to plunder the oil wealth," Abdul Hadi told supporters in Kota Baru in northeast Kelantan, the only one of Malaysia's 13 states controlled by the Islamists.

"Now they are trying to interfere in Islamic education by forcing Islamic countries to amend the teachings of Islam and remove jihad teachings from Islam so that the world is left only with a US version of Islam and not the teachings of the Prophet," he said.

The assembly of more than 1,000 delegates is PAS's biggest gathering since it suffered a humiliating defeat in general elections in March at the hands of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's National Front coalition.

PAS, which aims to turn Malaysia into a theocratic state, lost a swathe of seats in the national parliament, was ousted from power in Terengganu state and managed to retain control of Kelantan only with the slimmest of majorities.

Abdul Hadi accused Abdullah's ruling coalition, which is led by Muslims but includes parties representing non-Islamic ethnic minorities, of pandering to US ambitions in the region and putting Malaysia's sovereignty at stake.

He vowed that PAS would not compromise its goal of changing the secular constitution and establishing Islamic rule if it came to power in this mul|i-religious country.