Mahathir says Azizah a puppet of Manila

Mahathir says Azizah a puppet of Manila

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Saturday accused the wife of his jailed former deputy of seeking the support of the Philippines to bring about political change in Malaysia.

Mahathir said Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who heads a political movement for her husband Anwar Ibrahim, had become a puppet of foreign leaders like Philippine President Joseph Estrada.

"Not Estrada, or leaders of foreign nations, using local puppets, have the right to decide the nation's future," Malaysia's Bernama news agency quoted Mahathir as saying.

"We will defend the country's sovereignty until our last breath," he told a political rally.

On Friday, Mahathir said Malaysia's independence might end if its people relied on outside help to solve internal problems.

"It appears that there are people who think that foreigners should interfere in our domestic affairs," he said.

"We thought that our country is free and independent and Malaysians will determine the fate of the Malaysian people themselves, but we find that they are keen to get support from foreign countries."

Azizah enraged Mahathir's government during a visit to Manila by telling Filipino and foreign businessmen in a speech on Thursday that Mahathir was losing his grip on power.

Azizah called Mahathir "a once-respected prime minister who has lost all sense of perspective, all sense of right and wrong and all sense of reality".

Referring to the "people's power" revolt that toppled former Philippine strongman Ferdinand Marcos in 1986, she said the Philippines had shown that a dictator could be overthrown.

But Azizah added: "It must be legal, we must not talk about violent means. We would rather do it through elections."

She then had a private meeting with Estrada. The president, who had incensed Malaysia earlier by supporting Anwar after he was sacked and indicted, said he had written to Anwar in jail.

Malaysia and its neighbors have an unwritten policy of not meddling in each other's internal affairs.

Estrada tried to downplay his meeting with Azizah, saying it was purely private and personal.

But Mahathir did not appear convinced and reminded Estrada of Malaysia's silence thus far on matters involving the Philippines.

"There are many Filipinos seeking our help, but we don't want to meddle in the domestic affairs of other people," he said without elaborating.

Anwar is serving a six-year jail term for corruption and is to face another trial for alleged sodomy.

The former deputy premier and finance minister says he is a victim of political persecution and was framed to prevent him from exposing corruption and nepotism in government. Mahathir said he sacked Anwar last September because he was morally unfit.