MISHAAL IN MALAYSIA FOR A CONFERENCE
The Hamas delegation encompasses senior leaders of the Islamic movement such as Mohamed Nasr, Sami Khater and Osama Hamdan.
A senior source of Hamas told the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) that Mishaal is due to meet with the Malaysian Prime Minister, Dato Seri Najib Razak, the Secretary General of the UMNO party, Gov. Seri Mansur , and a number of other political leaders in the country.
He stated that Mishaal will deliver a speech on Tuesday at the International Forum, which will be hosted by the UNNO party, ahead of the opening session of the annual general conference.
Then he will deliver a speech at the International Islamic University-Malaysia, which includes students from more than 100 nationalities, including Palestinians.
This is the first official visit to Malaysia, done by the head of the political bureau of Hamas, which is an indication of the level of development of the relationship between movement and Malaysia.
The Prime Minister of Malaysia visited Gaza in January 2013 to help break the siege, imposed on the Gaza Strip.
The United Malays National Organisation (UMNO)is Malaysia’s largest political party; a founding member of the National Front coalition, which has played a dominant role in Malaysian politics since independence.
The UMNO emphasizes as its foundation the struggle to uphold the aspirations of Malay nationalism and the dignity of race, religion and country. The party also aspires to protect the Malay culture as the national culture and to uphold, defend and expand Islam.
Up to this day, UMNO is the longest continuing ruling party in the world. UMNO is widely considered as backbone of Alliance Party (Malaysia), ruling coalition since 1951 and its successor since 1973, Barisan Nasional.
After the British returned to Malaya in the aftermath of World War II, the Malayan Union was formed. However, the Union was met with much opposition due to its constitutional framework, which allegedly threatened Malay sovereignty over Malaya. A series of Malay congresses were held, culminating in the formation of the nationalist party, UMNO on May 10, 1946 at the Third Malay Congress in Johor Bahru, with Datuk Onn Jaafar as its leader. UMNO strongly opposed the Malayan Union, but originally did not seek political power. UMNO has no choice with continuing to play its supporting role to the British rulers.(T/P02/P04)
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
