S'pore and KL trade charges

S'pore and KL trade charges

SINGAPORE (AFP): Fresh verbal skirmishes have erupted between Singapore and Malaysia after both sides blamed each other for a delay in bilateral talks aimed at resolving a series of disputes.

The Singapore foreign ministry in a statement issued late Monday rejected claims by Malaysia's Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar that a meeting between the two countries was being stalled by Singapore.

Relations have been prickly since Singapore was ejected from the Malaysian federation in 1965 amid a dispute over Kuala Lumpur's preferential treatment of ethnic Malays.

Among the sticky issues are long-term water supply from Malaysia to Singapore, customs, immigration and quarantine arrangements on a railway linking them, withdrawal of pensions of Malaysian workers in Singapore and the use of Malaysian airspace by Singaporean aircraft.