Muslims Split Over Suicide Bombers

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - Muslim countries were split over whether to condemn Palestinian suicide bombers as terrorists at the start of a major Islamic conference Monday.

Fault lines appeared immediately as the Palestinian representative disagreed with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, the meeting's host, who said that suicide bombers killing Israeli civilians should be regarded as terrorists.

"It is not necessary to condemn the suicide bombers, because we have to take into consideration the reasons behind somebody willing to lose his life," Palestinian Foreign Minister Farouk Kaddoumi told reporters at the conference. Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories is "the highest and worst kind of terrorism, and the human being, if he sacrifices his life - there must be a reason," Kaddoumi said. "The reason is state terrorism."

Deputy Foreign Minister Ivica Misic of Bosnia-Herzegovina, chief of his country's anti-terrorism team, disagreed.

"I don't care about race or religion," Ivica said. "I agree that if a person kills or harms a civilian he is a terrorist, no matter how noble his struggle may be." An attempt to paper over the divisions with a resolution condemning Israel for state terrorism was passed unanimously, but the conference risked bogging down under the old dilemma: when is a terrorist a freedom fighter?

Mahathir, a vital U.S. ally in the campaign to crack Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network, called for agreement that any attack on civilians - by the Sept. 11 hijackers, Israel's army or Palestinian suicide bombers - be labeled terrorism. "Muslims everywhere must condemn terrorism, once it is clearly defined," Mahathir said. "Bitter and angry though we may be, we must demonstrate to the world that Muslims are rational people when fighting for our rights and we do not resort to acts of terror."

Mahathir, Asia's longest-serving leader, hopes that the three-day meeting of the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference will lead to a United Nations convention to define terrorism and an accepted way to hold perpetrators accountable, including governments.

Malaysia has been pushing for an international conference since Sept. 11, which Mahathir said had hurt the image of Islam.

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