Renong tycoon 'not under inquiry'

Renong tycoon 'not under inquiry'

KUALA LUMPUR (AP): Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Friday
that Halim Saad, the besieged boss of troubled conglomerate
Renong, is not under investigation and defended the government's
rescues of faltering companies.

Halim was one of the Malay Muslim businessmen favored by
Mahathir to give the country's predominant ethnic group more
economic clout, but the government's recent efforts to take over
his debt-ridden empire has cast his future in doubt.

"He is not under investigation. He's not in charge, that's
all," Mahathir told reporters Friday. "No question of fall guy or
anything like that."

Halim was a protege of Daim Zainuddin, who resigned as finance
minister in June without explanation. Mahathir has taken up the
finance portfolio.

Both Mahathir and Daim, partners since the 1980s in
transforming Malaysia into a high-tech export center, have denied
having a falling out, but the government's image has taken a
beating this year over a series of bailouts perceived by critics
as benefiting government cronies.