Mahathir to meet Bush in Washington in May

0 Comments | Asian Political News, April 22, 2002

KUALA LUMPUR, April 15 Kyodo

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has accepted an invitation of U.S. President George W. Bush to visit Washington on May 13-15, a U.S. official said Monday.

The invitation is ''to say thank you to a respected leader from a new leader,'' U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs James A. Kelly told reporters at the end of his three-day visit to Kuala Lumpur.

Bush has been in office for less than 18 months, while Mahathir is known as Asia's longest elected leader, having served more than 20 years.

This would be Mahathir's first official visit to the United States in more than a decade.

He met Bush earlier on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit in Shanghai, China, last year.

The upcoming meeting has become more crucial as Malaysia has been identified as one of the bases for the al-Qaida terrorist network led by militant Osama bin Laden, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Malaysia has detained around two dozen people with alleged links to al-Qaida. One of them is a former army captain, Yazid Sufaat, who is also wanted by the U.S. for his reported links to groups involved in the Sept. 11 attacks.

Kelly, who met Mahathir and other senior government officials during the visit, did not comment on whether the issue of extraditing Yazid was discussed.

''There are ongoing discussion on law enforcement. I am not going to go into the details on specific cases,'' he said.

The Sept. 11 attacks have been instrumental in changing the U.S. attitude toward Malaysia.

''As a moderate and predominantly Islamic country in Southeast Asia, Malaysia plays an important role in the global war on terrorism and is a beacon of stability in the region,'' Kelly said.

Before the attacks, bilateral ties were at their lowest levels, following the infamous remarks made by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore in Kuala Lumpur in 1998 supporting former Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's ''reformasi'' movement, which aims to topple Mahathir.

The U.S. has thumbed its nose at previous efforts to improve ties and had placed conditions on arranging a meeting between the two leaders.

One of the conditions is the Malaysian government's treatment of Anwar.

Asked whether there has been a change of heart regarding Anwar, Kelly said, ''The U.S. shared the views of many Western observers that the trial of 1998 was flawed.''

He said the trial was ''very political in nature'' and ''hopes the appeal process would prove to be fair and straight forward.''

The envisioned talks between Mahathir and Bush also come on the heels of escalating violence in the Middle East. Mahathir said he would discuss the Palestinian-Israeli issue with Bush.

''There is no question that any responsible government, including Malaysia...and the U.S. are extremely concerned about the Middle East,'' Kelly said.