'Asiaweek' denies trying to make Mahathir look tired

'Asiaweek' denies trying to make Mahathir look tired

KUALA LUMPUR (AP): Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has criticized one of Asia's leading news magazines for, he claims, trying to make him look worn-out and foolish in a recent profile. On Friday, the Hong Kong-based magazine, Asiaweek, denied that it had any biased intentions.

"All of us who were there were struck by how tired he seemed," editor Dorinda Elliott told The Associated Press. "We thought the pictures we ran were reflective of what we were struck by." "We certainly didn't have an agenda," Elliott said.

Speaking to Malaysian journalists on Thursday, Mahathir, 75, slammed the magazine for articles and pictures published in its Jan. 26 issue based on an interview conducted at his new administrative capital, Putrajaya.

"To find a picture that makes you look as if you are an idiot, is deliberately done," Mahathir was quoted as saying by the national news agency, Bernama. "They must have taken nearly 200 photos but chose that 'so right' photograph."

Mahathir, Asia's longest-serving leader, rarely gives interviews to foreign news organizations, which he often accuses of portraying Malaysia through a prism of pro-Western, anti-Asian values.

Mahathir claimed that he was taken in by friendly interviewers who persuaded him to come out from his offices to take pictures, Bernama said.

Mahathir appeared irked by a photo that showed him outdoors, with Putrajaya's buildings as a backdrop, captioned: "Is the prime minister being left behind by a new Malaysia that he helped build?"

He does not look particularly weary, though the article noted that during the interview, Mahathir slumped in his chair "and appeared tired and worn down by unprecedented criticism of his rule."

Bernama said that Mahathir retorted that anyone who works as hard as he does would be tired.

"I work about 24 hours a day and I rest a little," Mahathir said.

Mahathir has faced growing troubles since 1997, when the Asian economic crisis sent the economy into recession after many years of growth that made Malaysia one of the most prosperous countries in Asia.

Disagreement with this heir-apparent, Anwar Ibrahim, resulted in the popular deputy premier being sacked in 1998 and led to street unrest.

Anwar was tried and convicted for sodomy and corruption and is serving sentences totaling 15 years imprisonment. Anwar says he was framed to keep him from challenging Mahathir for power. The government denies it.

The opposition made electoral gains in 1999, though Mahathir's coalition retained two-thirds control of Parliament. But the country has no clear successor and Mahathir has said he will not seek office again. The next elections are in 2004.