KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) today suggested that the Muslim world stop the trading of oil in the US dollar in retaliation to the US recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
MIC treasurer-general Datuk Seri S. Vell Paari said the trading could be done in some other currency that was acceptable in the oil and gas producing countries.
“The power and influence possessed by the King of Saudi Arabia, King Salman Abdulaziz Al Saud, and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will be able to convince oil-producing countries to do away with the trading of oil in the US dollar.
“This will teach the US a lesson as its decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel will have consequences.
“Since the Muslim world is blessed with oil, it could be the only practical ‘weapon’ to be used against the United States,” he said in a statement today.
Vell Paari also said that Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s new capital would derail any bid to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
He advised all quarters that it was time to take concrete steps to protect the Palestinians and to exert power and pressure on the United States with respect to the Palestinian cause.
Trump had announced on Wednesday the US recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and stated that the US would shift its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in the near future. — BERNAMA