Malaysia, S'pore could end problems in months

Malaysia, S'pore could end problems in months

KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): Singapore Senior Minister Lee Kuan
Yew said on Thursday that his country and neighboring Malaysia
could resolve bilateral problems in two to three months if there
was enough political will on both sides.

"I believe if there is enough give on both sides on the key
points, it is possible within two months, three months to tie up
the details," Lee told a news conference in Kuala Lumpur at the
end of his first visit to Malaysia in a decade.

"And if we can work out the nuts and bolts, assuming that
there is such enough give, well in two months or three months the
two prime ministers can meet and put our problems behind us and
move on," Singapore's founding father said.

Relations between the sibling states have been strained in
recent years. Efforts to resolve problems including Malaysia's
supply of water to Singapore have reached a standstill.

Lee, who was Singapore's prime minister for 31 years and has
been senior minister and an influential adviser to the government
since 1990, drove into Malaysia on Monday in a clear attempt to
breathe some warmth into often cool bilateral ties.

"I leave more optimistic than when I came," said Lee, who held
talks with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and other
government ministers, businessmen and newspaper editors during
his four-day visit.

Blunders

Touching on the jailing of Malaysia's former deputy prime
minister Anwar Ibrahim, Lee said the way Mahathir handled the
political downfall of his one-time heir-apparent amounted to "a
series of blunders." He said, however, that in the end, his
sympathies lay with Mahathir rather than the imprisoned
Anwar.

Anwar was sentenced last week to nine years in prison after
being found guilty of sodomy, to begin after he completes a six-
year term for corruption. Anwar claimed that the cases were a
conspiracy to destroy him and end his challenge to Mahathir's 19-
year rule, the longest in Asia.

"It was an unmitigated disaster, and I felt more sorry for Dr.
Mahathir than I felt for Anwar," Lee said. "I think that Dr.
Mahathir paid a very heavy price. He made an error of judgment,
several errors of judgment, which I felt were most unfortunate."

Among these, Lee said, was arresting Anwar under the draconian
Internal Security Act shortly after sacking him as deputy in
September 1998 following disputes over how to handle the Asian
economic crisis. The act is a British colonial-era relic for
fighting terrorism and allows for detention without charge.

Using it against Anwar after he led a large street
demonstration for political reform was widely seen as heavy-
handed.

Lee said he raised the topic with Mahathir when they met in
Davos, Switzerland, at an economic forum in early 1999.

"Why did you arrest him under the ISA?" Lee recalled asking.
"How can he be a national security threat? I was flabbergasted."
Anwar was eventually charged with corruption and sodomy and
convicted, but the verdicts were criticized abroad by human-
rights groups and leaders like U.S. Vice President Al Gore.

The view that Anwar was being persecuted was reinforced when
he was beaten in custody by a national police chief.

Lee called the handling of the case "a series of blunders."
"I'm sorry for Anwar, too," Lee said. "He was set as the deputy
to take over, and now, all these things have happened, damaging
both of them. It's just sad."

But when asked what he thought of the combined 15-year prison
terms Anwar, 52, must serve -- followed by a five-year ban from
politics once released -- Lee flashed his trademark pugnacity.

"Is it of any relevance what my opinion is? Why should I want
to express it?" Lee said.

Tiny Singapore was not about to side with foreign critics of
its larger neighbor, Lee said.

"Singapore is not an enemy," Lee said. "If anything, it is a
friend. You must not forget that we have extremely close ties
with the leaders in Malaysia, including ... Anwar when he was a
minister."