KL defends Mahathir over gift

Sun, 13 Jun 2004 | Source: AP

MALAYSIA: The government defended former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Saturday for his gift of Malaysian timber to Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, a report said.

Mahathir, caught up in a scandal over whether Mugabe was using taxpayers' money to build a 25-bedroom private mansion in his impoverished country, has said the gift of sawn timber was made on behalf of the government while he was in office, but denied any misuse of national assets.

Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Saturday that Mahathir had not committed any offense, the national news agency Bernama reported..

-- AP

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