Arm world with values, wisdom, not with weapons: Kaunda

New Delhi, Jan 29 (UNI) Dr Kenneth Kaunda, first President of Zambia, today called for arming the world with values and wisdom espoused by Mahatma Gandhi as the hope of the future and not with weapons of mass destruction.

Addressing a two-day international conference on the occasion of the centenary celebrations of satyagraha, Dr Kaunda appealed to US President George Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair and their allies to end their campaign of war as it had failed at great cost to life and property and opportunities for development.

These costly wars, be it in Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam or elsewhere, ''are not in US and British interests. The US and UK are less safe today than before the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Israel is even less secure.'' ''The rights of Americans and British people have been eroded by the demands of national security,'' he said.

The former Zambian President also appealed to the al Qaeda leadership, Islamist militants and other combatants engaged in conflicts to end the pursuit of their objectives through terrorism.

''Islam espouses love and peace. The military or insurgency options will not produce the desired results. It is time to pursue the path of peace not war; the path of dialogue not military confrontation,'' he said.

Dr Kaunda wanted the financiers of the senseless catastrophic wars to turn their massive resources and efforts to the war against poverty, hunger, ignorance, HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and other debilitating diseases as well as the exploitation of the vulnerable by the powerful and acquisitive minority.

''As we re-launch the satyagraha movement worldwide...let us stand up with a united voice and say no to war, no to terrorism, no to war mongers, warlords and arms dealers trading in weapons of death, no to government leaders sending young men and women to die for senseless causes to glorify themselves,'' he appealed to the gathering of world leaders attending the conference.

To save humanity from destruction in the 21st century, the world must be armed, not with weapons of mass destruction, but with the values and wisdom espoused by Gandhi and embodied by the Satyagraha movement as the hope of the future, Dr Kaunda said.

UNI