http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2005/April/theworld_April199.xml§ion=theworldSYDNEY - Malaysia’s Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi ended his visit to Australia on Saturday after calling for a new approach to the global campaign against terrorism.
Speaking at his last public engagement here on Friday night, Badawi said Islamic extremism would be weakened if the growth of poverty, anger and frustration in Muslim communities was halted.
Badawi, on the first official visit to Australia by a Malaysian leader in 21 years, said this approach had been modestly successful in his country where reforms had been implemented to raise living standards in predominantly Muslim rural areas.
“We have demonstrated that we can roll back the Islamists, not by engaging in a holier-than-thou contest, but by addressing the root causes of anger and frustration,” he said in a speech to the Asia Society of Australia.
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