Angered malaysia berates VP gore for 'interference'

Angered malaysia berates VP gore for 'interference'

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): An irate Malaysia accused U.S. Vice
President Al Gore on Tuesday of whipping up lawlessness with
comments on political reform that opened a deep rift at a Pacific
Rim summit seeking a cure for Asia's economic crisis.

Other Asian nations joined the attack on Gore, who publicly
embarrassed Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Monday
by hailing a reform movement that backs his main rival, the
detained former finance minister Anwar Ibrahim.

Thousands of Anwar's supporters have taken to the streets
since Anwar's arrest in September to demand an end to the 17-year
rule of Asia's longest-serving elected leader.

Foreign Minister Abdullah Badawi lambasted Gore's remarks as
"gross interference in the internal affairs of the country".

"Malaysia finds the incitement by the U.S. government to
lawlessness by certain elements within the country to use
undemocratic means in order to overthrow a constitutionally
elected government, most abhorrent," he said in a statement.

"Malaysians do not take kindly to sanctimonious sermonizing
from any foreign quarter, especially the United States, a country
which is known to have committed gross violations of human
rights."

Gore was unmoved, saying his message at the Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation summit was that democracy must go hand-in-
hand with economic reform.

"That is the American message and I am proud to deliver it
here and anywhere I go," he told reporters.

At a dinner for APEC business leaders, Gore said Asians were
calling for reform in many languages, including "reformasi",
reform in Malay.

"We hear them today -- right here, right now -- among the
brave people of Malaysia," Gore said. The White House said later
President Bill Clinton would have said the same thing had the
Iraq crisis not kept him from the APEC summit.

Politics are usually swept under the carpet at APEC, which
embraces everything from China's communism to Brunei's monarchy,
and Asian leaders fretted that Gore had made the task of forging
consensus on economic recovery more difficult.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jenny Shipley, whose country will
host next year's summit, said she was worried that "megaphone
diplomacy" was threatening APEC.

"Let's not confuse issues here," Shipley told reporters.
"APEC is an economic forum where cooperation is being sought.
Clearly there are some pressing bilateral issues that countries
want to raise here in Malaysia but it should not be at the
expense of APEC," she said.

Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong chided Gore, saying
"politics should not get in the way of APEC", and China joined
the fray by restating its long-held tenet of non-interference.

"Reformasi" was the battle cry of Anwar, Mahathir's heir
apparent before he was sacked in September after the two fell
out. Mahathir declared his number two, now on trial for
corruption and sodomy, "morally unfit" for government.

Anwar says the charges are part of a high-level plot to kill
his career.

The summit of 21 APEC leaders on Tuesday and Wednesday will
discuss the Asian financial crisis, economic and technical
cooperation, electronic commerce and ways to strengthen the
global trading system.

But what is usually a scripted display of unity now appears to
be headed towards fractious debate, just when Asian needs to
coordinate its economic policies.

However, not all Asian leaders were upset with Gore.
"It was a very beautiful speech," said Philippine President
Joseph Estrada, who met Anwar's wife on Monday night in another
move likely to antagonize Mahathir.