Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has said President George W. Bush came close to apologizing to him for the strong language that the US administration had used to criticize his claims that Jews rule the world.
Bush, however, has told reporters he made it personally clear to Mahathir that his remarks were "reprehensible" as well as "divisive and unnecessary."
"He did not rebuke me," Mahathir said in an interview during a visit to Indonesia and published yesterday in Malaysia's New Straits Times newspaper. "He came very nearly to apologizing to me for the strong words used."
In a speech to a summit of Islamic leaders last week, Mahathir said: "Jews rule the world. They get others to fight and die for them."
The comments attracted criticism from around the world.
Bush and Mahathir had a brief exchange about the Malaysian leader's words a few days later on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Thailand.
National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice described the remarks as "hateful." US Secretary of State Colin Powell also discussed the remarks with Malaysia's foreign minister.
A White House spokesman said Bush had pulled Mahathir aside at the APEC meeting to say the remarks were "wrong and divisive."
On his way to Australia for a visit, Bush expanded on his conversation with Mahathir, telling reporters that he told the Malaysian: "I'm here to inform you that you're going to see that I thought your comments were reprehensible."
"I said they're divisive and unnecessary. I didn't yell at him. I just told him," Bush said, adding, "He knew how I felt, there's no question about that."
In the New Straits Times interview, Mahathir said Bush had read the speech containing his comments about Jews "and he understood."
"I did say something about the Jews," Mahathir was quoted as saying. "But I also said a lot of things about the Muslims. So it is a balanced kind of speech. Powell was not upset over my speech."
During his Indonesia visit, Mahathir also renewed his fiery criticism of market speculators he has previously blamed for the late-1990s Asian financial crisis, calling them "economic terrorists."
Mahathir, who is on the verge of retirement after serving longer than any elected leader in Asia, yesterday gave some advice to the world's newest country, saying democracy and a free media are good, but both have their limitations. He is one of only a few leaders to visit East Timor since it became independent in May last year.
Speaking to East Timorese lawmakers in the country's parliament building, Mahathir warned of the potential pitfalls of a free media and a robust civil society.
Australians were downloading virtual private networks (VPNs) in droves, while one of the world’s largest porn distributors said it was blocking users from its platforms as the country yesterday rolled out sweeping online age restriction. Australia in December became the first country to impose a nationwide ban on teenagers using social media. A separate law now requires artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot services to keep certain content — including pornography, extreme violence and self-harm and eating disorder material — from minors or face fines of up to A$49.5 million (US$34.6 million). The country also joined Britain, France and dozens of US states requiring
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
MORE BANS: Australia last year required sites to remove accounts held by under-16s, with a few countries pushing for similar action at an EU level and India considering its own ban Indonesia on Friday said it would ban social media access for children under 16, citing threats from online pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud and Internet addiction. “Accounts belonging to children under 16 on high-risk platforms will start to be deactivated, beginning with YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox,” Indonesian Minister of Communications and Digital Meutya Hafid said. “The government is stepping in so that parents no longer have to fight alone against the giants of the algorithm. Implementation will begin on March 28, 2026,” she said. The social media ban would be introduced in stages “until all platforms fulfill their
RSS