Canberra and KL trade blows over Anwar conviction
SYDNEY -- Malaysia told Australia on Thursday to butt out of its internal affairs while Canberra said Kuala Lumpur had to heed international outrage over the jailing of former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
Prime Minister Datuk Dr Mahathir Mohamad's government has reacted furiously to Prime Minister John Howard's assertion that Anwar's conviction on sodomy charges appeared to be part of a long-running political campaign, signalling a new low in bipartisan ties.
Legal Affairs Minister Rais Yatim told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio: "Mr Howard should be taking care of problems that are domestic and not ... where it concerns the internal affairs of another country.
"The judicial system in Malaysia has decided that way and there is no need on the part of a prime minister of Australia to express whether it is political or not."
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer responded by telling Dr Mahathir he had to face the facts -- that concern over the conviction was shared by virtually every country in Asia.
Anwar, he added, was well-respected in the Asia-Pacific and his jailing was a very sad thing for Malaysia and the region.
"We would have to add that the concerns we have are either publicly or privately shared by all of the countries around the region," he told reporters.
"The United States has also made some public comments, the Canadians, the European Union and so on, the President of the World Bank. That's something the Malaysians have got to take into account."
Mr Downer said there was realistically nothing Australia could do "to spring Anwar from prison or anything like that", but added that Malaysia had got the message "and I don't think there's any need for me to expand on it".
"I think Dr Mahathir knows what the point is, I don't think there's any problem there. What we say is one thing but there are an enormous number of people in Malaysia expressing concerns about this also."
Mr Yatim said he was aware of widespread condemnation in the international media.
"At the same time, I cannot run away from the responsibility of taking cognisance of the judicial function of the courts in Malaysia," he said.
"This is just one of those cases which had gone through the process. Inasmuch as people say that it is unfair, in my view, the judicial process has been without any blameworthiness."
Relations between Australia and Malaysia have been tense for several years and Canberra's comments appear to spell an end to any improvement.
When Mr Howard came to office in 1996, he attempted to patch up differences created during the Hawke and Keating years which culminated in the the then Prime Minister Keating labelling Dr Mahathir as "recalcitrant".
Malaysia had retaliated with diplomatic and trade sanctions.
Then in Kuala Lumpur two years ago, Prime Minister Howard enraged Dr Mahathir by meeting privately with Anwar's wife, Dr Wan Azizah.
Relations went from bad to worse this year when Mahathir accused Mr Howard of being a "bully" who was not welcome in Asia.
He followed it up with an interview in The Australian in July where he said Mr Howard would never again be welcome in Malaysia because of his criticism of the Anwar case.
"For me now, to welcome him is impossible because he passed a remark against me which I think expresses his ignorance and his belief that he can pass judgments on others without examining things," Dr Mahathir said.
"He thinks because we are an Asian country, our courts are crooked." -- AFP
Mahathir defends Anwar court decision
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