Mahathir wins praise but comment on Jews still rankles

Mahathir wins praise but comment on Jews still rankles

Vijay Joshi, Associated Press, Bangkok

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad left office on Friday
with compliments from around the world tempered by advice to tone
down his trademark outspokenness in retirement.

Mahathir, 77, went out in a typically combative style by
raising a controversy earlier this month with comments about
alleged Jewish dominance of the world that riled the United
States, Australia and much of Europe but made him a hero in the
Muslim and Arab world.

"We won't shed a tear on his leaving," said Avi Pazner, an
Israeli government spokesman, expressing hopes that "our
relations with Malaysia will improve now that he's left."

Others were less harsh in judging Mahathir, who transformed
Malaysia from a tin and rubber producing backwater to an
industrial powerhouse during 22 years at the helm and brought
stability to his multiethnic country.

"Ever a complex man, Dr. Mahathir's energy and vision, but not
his prejudices, will be missed," The Guardian newspaper of London
said in an editorial.

The most effusive praise came from Malaysian newspapers. The
New Straits Times published a 96-page special tribute to Mahathir
while The Star said in a front page-editorial: "Truly, this man
has been a father to us."

Tributes also flowed in editorials around the world, including
Saudi Arabia, Kenya and Singapore. Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya, the
Arab world's two most popular television stations, broadcast live
Mahathir's retirement ceremony on Friday.

"It will be hard to conceive of a neighborhood without him.
Correction -- make that a world stage," said Singapore's Straits
Times.

Indonesia's Jakarta Post newspaper praised Mahathir for
showing the world that it is possible for a non-Western country
to manage an orderly succession.

But if Mahathir were to continue his outbursts even in
retirement, then he would gradually come to "be regarded as an
aging old man who has become a political nuisance," the Post
said.

Unwilling to make a concession to Mahathir's retiree status,
Australian Prime Minister John Howard refused to comment when
asked if he had a last message for the man whose acerbic tongue
has often lashed out against Australia.

"I don't have any comments to make," Howard told radio station
3AW, but said the links forged by 200,000 Malaysians educated in
Australian universities would be "more productive ... than the
contribution made by heads of government."

Mahathir's record has also been marred by what critics say was
his autocratic style that crushed all political opponents
including one-time deputy Anwar Ibrahim.

The Nation newspaper of Thailand said Mahathir's retirement
has left a vacancy for the job of regional statesman but warned
that Southeast Asia does not need a Mahathir clone with a
"totalitarian bent."

"Although Malaysians are richer today, they are not
necessarily freer," it said.

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a tycoon-turned-
politician who is credited with turning around Thailand's economy
in the last two years, has been touted as a replacement for
Mahathir.

But critics say Thaksin lacks Mahathir's experience, bluntness
and his credentials as a champion of Third World causes.

The government of Thailand, Malaysia's northern neighbor with
which it has had prickly border and trade relations, is confident
Mahathir's departure will not affect bilateral ties, spokesman
Sita Divari said.