S'pore and Malaysia dispute deepens

S'pore and Malaysia dispute deepens

MALAYSIA: Singapore had no right to order Malaysia to stay away
from a strategic island at the center of a territorial dispute,
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Sunday.

A war of words between the two neighbors has intensified since
last month over long-standing disputes about water prices and
competing claims for the islet of Pulau Batu Putih in the busy
shipping lanes of the Singapore Straits.

Singapore's Foreign Minister Shanmugan Jayakumar told an
emergency session of Parliament on Saturday that the city-state
must defuse tensions with Malaysia before they escalate to
dangerous levels.

Earlier in the week, Singaporean Defense Minister Tony Tan
warned that Malaysian navy patrols must stay away from the
disputed islet, also called Pedra Branca, or risk "unintended
incidents."

The two nations are scheduled to sign an agreement next month
referring the dispute over the islet to the International Court
of Justice in the Hague. --AP