NEW YORK, Sept 28 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today accused rich and powerful countries of not caring for smaller nations and the oppressed.

In his statement to the 73rd United Nations General Assembly, the Malaysian prime minister singled out the Palestinian issue, the massacre of the Rohingya and unfair trade practices by rich nations as the main ills faced by the world today.

“When I last spoke here in 2003, I lamented how the world had lost its way. I bemoaned the fact that small countries continued to be at the mercy of the powerful. I argued the need for the developing world to push for reform, to enhance capacity building and diversify the economy. We need to maintain control of our destiny.

“But today, 15 years later, the world has not changed much. If at all, the world is far worse than 15 years ago. Today, the world is in a state of turmoil economically, socially and politically,” he said.

Dr Mahathir also accused arms manufacturers of fuelling wars among smaller nations so that they could “test their weapons” and reap huge profits.

Israel came under special attention of Dr Mahathir, who claimed that terrorism could be resolved by recognising Palestine and preventing the Zionist regime from murdering Palestinians.

Calling the Palestine issue the root cause of terrorism, he said such acts of terror would stop if the problem was resolved.

See the full text of Dr Mahathir’s speech here.