Thai Moslems Denounce U.S.-British Attack on Iraq

Anti-American sentiments have risen among Moslems in southernThailand following a series of U.S.-British air strikes againstIraq,a newspaper report said Saturday.

Chame Hameman, secretary to the chairman of the Songkhla IslamicCommittee, Friday denounced the U.S.-British military actions andcalled on Moslems across the world to retaliate by boycottingAmerican products.

"The U.S. always thinks of itself as a superpower. Its attacks onIraq are just a persecution of the people in that country," theBangkok Post newspaper quoted Chame as saying.Manso Salaeh, a leader of the Young Moslem Association ofThailand, said he will send a protest note to the U.S. Embassy inBangkok Saturday to voice dissatisfaction with the strikes and tocall on Washington to stop the attack.Manso said he suspected U.S. President Bill Clinton had orderedthe air raids only to escape possible impeachment at home.The protest note also can be accessed through the Internet, hesaid.He said the association would launch campaigns to raise donationsto help the Iraqi people injured in the bombings.Thousands of Moslems in provinces of Hat Yai, Songkhla, Pattani,Yala and Narathiwat gathered at several mosques Friday to pray forthe safety of Iraq and its people and curse the U.S..Parliament President Wan Muhamad Nor Matha, himself a Moslem, saidthe U.S. should rather seek to solve problems with Iraq throughpeaceful means.