[TinyRedLeaf]

Mahathir: 9/11 was staged

Kuala Lumpur (Jan 21): There is strong evidence that the Sept 11 attacks on the United States that killed nearly 3,000 could have been "staged" as an excuse to mount attacks on the Muslim world, said Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

"I am not sure now that Muslim terrorists carried out these attacks. There is evidence that the attacks were staged. If they can make Avatar, they can make anything," the former prime minister told a press conference here yesterday after delivering his speech at the General Conference for the Support of Al-Quds to aid the Palestinians.

He said killing innocent people to provide an excuse for war was not new to the US. "But whether real or staged, the 9/11 attacks have served the US and Western countries well. They have an excuse to mount attacks on the Muslim world," he added.

He also said that Israel was created after the Europeans failed to massacre the Jewish community.

"The Jews had always been a problem in European countries. They had to be confined to ghettoes and periodically massacred. But still they remained, they thrived and they held whole governments to ransom... Even after their massacre by the Nazis of Germany, they survived to continue to be a source of even greater problems for the world," said Dr Mahathir, who was noted for his anti-Western and anti-Zionist stand while in power for 22 years, until October 2003.

Dr Mahathir also criticised US President Barack Obama for failing to fulfil his promises concerning the country's commitment in West Asia, including his promise to resolve the prevailing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

On another issue, Dr Mahathir said he supported the plan to set up the inter-faith council as it could help promote effective understanding among religious groups in the country. Such a council, he said, would provide a platform for people to talk about sensitive religious matters reasonably without taking it to the streets.

- THE STAR ONLINE, THE STRAITS TIMES