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."