Malaysia PM compares Soleimani assassination to Khashoggi murder

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad yesterday slammed the US assassination of Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani and drew parallels with the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Both killings took place “across boundaries” and were in breach of laws and constituted immoral acts, argued Mahathir at a press conference in the city of Putrajaya. “We are no longer safe now,” he said. “If anybody insults or says something that somebody doesn’t like it’s alright for that person from another country to send a drone and perhaps have a shot at me.”

6. Iranian military chief, General Suleimani was assassinated in Iraq by the very people who condemned the killing of Khashoggi. Is there any diffirence between the killing of Suleimani and that of Khashoggi? pic.twitter.com/F1yw0nlD7I

— Dr Mahathir Mohamad (@chedetofficial) January 14, 2020

Taking to Twitter, Mohamad also asked: “Is there any difference between the killing of Soleimani and that of Khashoggi?”

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He reminded the US of its disastrous war in Vietnam: “The great power, employing all its military might, all its technology and huge sums of money was defeated by the black pajama[sic]-clad unimpressive, undersized Vietnamese.” He also criticised the illegal US invasion of Iraq in 2003, stating that the war was supposed to be over in three months, yet the negative effects persist almost 20 years later. “[Iraqi President] Saddam is dead but is Iraq much better than Saddam’s times?” he asked.

Last month, the Malaysian Prime Minister hosted the Kuala Lumpur Summit for Muslim countries by calling for new strategies to deal with crises facing the Islamic world and greater unity, especially against US economic terrorism in the form of sanctions. Saudi Arabia, which leads the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC), shunned the event and pressured Pakistan not to attend.

READ: Turkey official slams Saudi Arabia verdict on Khashoggi murder