Malaysia: Muslim nations entitled to nuclear power

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Muslim countries shouldn't be prevented from developing nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, a Malaysian government minister said Monday at an international conference on nuclear energy. World powers must not "misinterpret the interest of Muslim nations to generate nuclear energy as having a hidden motive," Science and Technology Minister Jamaluddin Jarjis was quoted as saying by the national news agency, Bernama. "The tendency for such misinterpretations based on a country's religious beliefs is truly tragic and should be tackled accordingly," Jamaluddin told reporters on the sidelines of the Forum for Nuclear Cooperation in Asia, held in Malaysia's eastern Pahang state. Malaysia, which chairs the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference, the world's main Muslim bloc, has said it has no objections to Iran using nuclear power for peaceful means.