The Prime Minister and Umno president said he was confident and believed that the Muslim ummah will never be able to accept the shocking proposal by the United States.

“I, as the president of Umno and the Prime Minister of Malaysia, would like to invite all party leaders, and others who are present in this hall or who are outside, to stand up.

“We must voice our stand clearly so that the world listens to the voice of the Muslims in Malaysia, that we reject forever and in the harshest terms the suggestion to make Baitul Maqdis (Jerusalem) as the capital of Israel,” Najib said in his presidential address at the Umno general assembly Thursday.

Najib said Umno has never and will never compromise on any matter that involves an insult to the sanctity and teachings of islam, not just in Malaysia, but in every corner of the world.

But the non-governmental organisation cautioned countries against imposing further sanctions on Myanmar, saying these are “unlikely to produce positive change”.

The report, “Myanmar’s Rohingya crisis enters a dangerous new phase” published on Thursday (Dec 7), said the home-grown Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (Arsa) militant group “appears determined to regroup and remain relevant” following its attacks on police posts and an army base in Rakhine state in August, which led to a security crackdown.

While it has not launched any new attack since then, it “will undoubtedly strive to do so”, the report said.

Led by a network of respected local leaders, including young mullahs or religious leaders, Arsa has to date organised cells within hundreds of villages to try and start an uprising by sending large numbers of ordinary villagers to overrun police posts with farm tools, a departure from its previous approach of stationing uniformed, armed militants in camps, ICG added.

“Yet operating under cover of the civilian population is no longer possible given that few Rohingya villages remain. Most of the group’s organisers and fighters are now in the Bangladesh camps,” according to the report.

“The group may thus shift to cross-border attacks, which would require different training, access to weapons as well as operating space in Bangladesh,” it said, adding it could aim at “opportunistic security targets in northern Rakhine or turn to attacking any non-Muslim villagers resettled on Rohingya lands, an easier target”.

The ICG warned that such attacks could escalate tensions between Bangladesh and Myanmar, potentially leading to clashes between the militaries of the two countries. They would also reinforce anti-Rohingya sentiment within Myanmar and prompt stronger security measures, which would hinder the chances of the return of the refugees.

Furthermore, attacks against Rakhine Buddhists would inflame anti-Muslim sentiment and tip central Rakhine state – so far untouched by the recent violence – into crisis, the report added.

Dr Subir Bhaumik, a consulting editor with Mizzima Media in Myanmar, told The Straits Times he did not agree that Arsa has a large number of organised cells led by respected religious leaders. He estimated that there are up to 30 squads in northern Rakhine who are “led by young radicalised alienated Rohingyas, some of them mullahs”.

“Respected Rohingya leaders have been terrorised into silence”, he said, adding that the Arsa is seeking to eliminate Rohingya moderates.

He agreed with the report that Arsa will shift to cross-border insurgency and draw Rohingya recruits from Bangladesh refugee camps. The group will also target non-Rohingyas, especially ethnic Rakhines, settled on Rohingya lands.

“But the present government of Bangladesh is determined to not encourage Arsa because it has close links to its (Bangladesh) terror groups like JMB”, or the Jama’at ul Mujahideen Bangladesh.

The ICG also urged against imposing international sanctions against Myanmar over the Rohingya refugee crisis , saying the community should resist from disengaging from the country but instead maintain development assistance and non-military engagement.

Policymakers should be “under no illusions” that the sanctions would bring positive change, but could only worsen the situation.

“Their most likely effect will thus be to push the government, military and population even closer together and to reinforce current narratives in Myanmar that the West is a fickle friend and unreliable partner,” the report said.

Dr Oh Su-Ann, a visiting fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, told The Straits Times that assistance could come in the form of coordinating and facilitating, as well as providing programmes towards peace and reconciliation, as well as monetary donations especially to Bangladesh to help deal with the humanitarian crisis.

She said: “It would help if the international community were to provide assistance to both governments of Bangladesh and Myanmar while reducing their overt criticisms, as these would only succeed in increasing the us-versus-them attitude in Myanmar.”

Trump’s defiant move, making good on a core campaign pledge, ended seven decades of US ambiguity on the status of the Holy City, which is vociferously claimed by both Israelis and Palestinians.

America’s leader appeared further isolated, as allies and foes alike denounced his decision and Palestinians questioned whether their dream of statehood, as part of a peace deal brokered by Washington, was still possible.

But the US president claimed this marked the start of a “new approach” to solving the thorny Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“Israel is a sovereign nation with the right like every other sovereign nation to determine its own capital,” Trump said in a speech given from the White House.

“It is time to officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel,” he said, urging calm and “the voices of tolerance to prevail over the purveyors of hate.”

– ‘Courageous’ or ‘deplorable’?

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said Trump’s “deplorable and unacceptable” move signified America’s withdrawal as a sponsor of the peace process.

Hamas — the Palestinian Islamist movement that runs the Gaza Strip — warned that Trump had opened “the gates of hell on US interests in the region.”

And although welcomed by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a “courageous and just decision,” Trump’s move left many angry US allies struggling to find a measured response — and hoping that the tinderbox region is not destined for yet another round of bloodletting.

Through gritted teeth, Britain described the move as “unhelpful” and France called it “regrettable.” Germany said plainly that it “does not support” Trump’s decision.

Eight countries including Britain, France and Italy pressed for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council in response to the move, which was set for Friday.

The leaders of Muslim nations meanwhile deployed ever-harsher rhetoric to describe Trump’s decision.

Turkey and Iran — both vying for regional influence — tried to give voice to the anger felt by many across the Muslim world.

Turkey called the decision “irresponsible” and illegal. Iran said it would “provoke Muslims and inflame a new intifada.”

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia branded the move “unjustified and irresponsible” — and said it goes against the “historical and permanent rights of the Palestinian people.”

– Diplomatic fallout –

Trump also kicked off the process of moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

In doing so, he begins to make good on a campaign promise dear to evangelical Christian and right-wing Jewish voters — as well as donors.

Trump’s predecessors — from Bill Clinton to George Bush — had made the same promise, but quickly reneged upon taking office and assuming responsibility for war and peace.

The 45th US president was determined to show his arrival in Washington spells the end of business as usual, suggesting his predecessors failed to act though lack of “courage.”

Moving the embassy will probably take years to implement, but the repercussions of Trump’s decision preceded even his announcement.

Hundreds of Palestinians burned US and Israeli flags as well as pictures of Trump in the Gaza Strip, while relatively small clashes erupted near the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron.

The Palestine Liberation Organization announced a strike across the West Bank Thursday, while Hamas called for a “day of rage” on Friday.

US government officials and their families were ordered to avoid Jerusalem’s Old City and the West Bank, though the situation remained largely calm up until Trump’s address.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, on a visit to Germany, said the United States had “implemented robust security plans to protect the safety of Americans in affected regions.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for a summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the main pan-Islamic body, in Istanbul next week to display joint action over Jerusalem.

Jordan and the Palestinians also requested an emergency meeting of the Arab League.

– Peace still possible, US says –

Most of the international community does not formally recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, insisting the issue can only be resolved in negotiations — a point reiterated by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in the wake of Trump’s decision.

Guterres implicitly criticized Trump, stressing his opposition to “any unilateral measures that would jeopardize the prospect of peace.”

Trump insisted the move did not prejudge final talks, saying it simply reflected the reality that west Jerusalem is and will continue to be part of Israel under any settlement.

“This is nothing more or less than a recognition of reality. It is also the right thing to do,” Trump said.

“Peace is never beyond the grasp of those willing to reach it,” said the US leader, who declared that “this decision is not intended in any way to reflect a departure from our strong commitment to facilitate a lasting peace.”

“The United States would support a two-state solution if agreed to by both sides,” Trump said, as he announced that Vice President Mike Pence would travel to the region in the coming days.

Trump further stated that the United States was not taking a position on any “final status issues, including the specific boundaries of the Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem, or the resolution of contested borders.”

“Those questions are up to the parties involved,” he said.

Israel seized the largely Arab eastern sector of Jerusalem during the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it, claiming both sides of the city as its capital.

The Palestinians want the eastern sector as the capital of their future state.

Several peace plans have unravelled in the past decades over the issue of how to divide sovereignty or oversee holy sites in Jerusalem.

Cambodia’s Supreme Court, effectively controlled by strongman Prime Minister Hun Sen, outlawed the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party last month and banned more than 100 of its politicians. It accused the party of attempting to overthrow the government.

That verdict was the culmination of a strangling of dissent in Cambodia, with CNRP president Kem Sokha jailed for treason in September as part of a crackdown that has also seen media outlets shuttered, journalists jailed and activists harassed.

In response, the State Department will restrict entry to “those individuals involved in undermining democracy in Cambodia.” In some cases, their relatives will also face visa restrictions.

The department declined to say which Cambodians are being punished, in particular Hen Sen himself, and said visa issuance is confidential.

“We call on the Cambodian government to reverse course by reinstating the political opposition, releasing Kem Sokha, and allowing civil society and media to resume their constitutionally protected activities,” the department said in a statement.//AFP

The United Nations does not have an army but it has peacekeepers for sustaining peace in conflict ridden areas. If the peacekeeping force was ranked against the national militaries it would be the 44th largest army in the world. There are a total of over 100,000 UN peacekeeping personal – consisting of 91,132 troops, 13,563 police and 1,811 military experts from 123 countries. However the peacekeeping army is dominated by the South Asian troops which have traditionally been the top providers.

In Asia, it is India that contributes the most number of troops with 7,471 personnel stationed worldwide.  India has participated in the most peacekeeping missions than any other country.

Pakistan is the second highest contributor in Asia with 7,161 troops in the UN missions.  It was the first country to respond to crisis in Somalia and sent 500 troops to Somalia in 1992.  Bangladesh is the third highest troop contributor to the UN. The country has served in 58 peacekeeping missions across 40 countries since 1988.   Nepal has contributed to 11 peace peacekeeping missions most of which are in Africa.

Indonesia first contributed troops in the 1950s and after a sustained absence has been once again actively contributing to the UN peace keeping missions.

China’s troop contribution has increased over the last many years and it is the 12th largest provider of troops in the world and sixth highest in Asia.  Mongolia contributes 950 troops for UN peacekeeping mission.

Malaysia, South Korea and Cambodia individually contribute less than one thousand troops.

Japan’s contribution to peacekeeping has diminished over a period of time.  It contributes a handful of personnel for UN missions.

Compared to its neighbours Sri Lanka remains an outlier in terms of troop contribution to the UN.  Bhutan, Australia, Brunei, Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar together contribute just hundred and forty personnel to the peace keeping missions of the UN.