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Motamer criticises

veto exercised

by Bill Clinton

ISLAMABAD: The Secretary General of World Muslim Congress (Motamer-Al-Alam al-Islami), Senator Raja Mohammad Zafarul Haq has criticised the veto exercised by American President Clinton thereby denying Bosnians the right to defend themselves.

In a statement issued here Raja Zafarul Haq referred to the statement of President Clinton in which he said that "basically it is a European war and he cannot take the risk of Americanizing it by even endorsing the resolutions of the Congress." Raja Sahib said there could not be a more fallacious argument.

He said the American president has, as expected, exercised his veto against the resolutions passed by the US Senate and House of Representatives with a massive majority, in which both houses had clearly taken a stand not only in line with the feelings of general public in the United States but also people of conscience around the globe that Bosnia should be allowed, like any other state, in the world to defend itself.

The painful aspect of president's decision is the reason he gave for the inaction of his administration, despite fully knowing the condition in Bosnia where from 1991 to this day a perpetual, organized and relentless genocide is taking place. Mass graves have been found in different areas where Bosnians were butchered and then buried.

There are over 600,000 shelterless internal Bosnian refugees. The so-called safe area declared by the UNO are virtually the most unsafe for human life, honour and property. The argument of the American president is that "basically it is a European war and he cannot take the risk of Americanizing it" by even endorsing the resolutions of the congress. There could not be a more fallacious argument. When Hitler invaded the rest of Europe and conquerred European states, one after the other, in quick succession, United States was led by a statesman of a very high class, remembered even 50 years of his passing away with respect and reverence. He was Franklin D Roosevelt who intervened in the war on the side of truth and human values. He strengthened Britain and supported resistance in Europe with massive arms and financial support which resulted in the defeat of Nazism. Had he employed the logic of President Bill Clinton at that crucial point history would have been different.

Even today, the Serbs want greater Serbia, like Hitler. They want part of Slovenia, big chunk of Croatia, a large part of Bosnia to create an ethnic state of greater Serbia.

Besides some others, Russia has been assissting and supporting Serbs throughout, and now President Yeltsin has come out openly in their support. Let the Americans, nay, the whole world wake up to a reality that we are back in the bipolar world and the second phase of Cold War which would be deadlier and costlier in terms of human lives and sufferings than we have experienced so far.-PPI