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.