'Americans are ignorant'

2004-10-19 09:48

Kuala Lumpur - Americans are "very ignorant," and will almost certainly re-elect a "liar" as their leader, Malaysia's former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said in a trademark tongue lashing directed at United States President George W Bush.

In an interview with Malaysia's The Star newspaper published on Tuesday, Mahathir - known for his blunt remarks - also didn't spare Bush's rival, Senator John Kerry, saying both politicians were "in total denial" about the root causes of terrorism.

Mahathir, however, wrote an open letter dated October 15 to American Muslims, urging them to vote for Kerry because Bush has been "the cause of the tragedies" across the Muslim world.

Meanwhile, current premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Tuesday distanced himself from Mahathir's statements and refused to comment on whether the Malaysian government wants Bush or Kerry to win.

Palestine is the problem

"Whatever (Mahathir) has written is his own opinion. Full stop," Abdullah told reporters.

Mahathir stepped down as prime minister after 22 years in office October last year, but has remained as candid as ever in criticising American leaders and Jews, as was evident in Tuesday's interview with The Star.

Mahathir, who cracked down on terror while in office, repeated his view that Islamic terrorism has been fuelled by US and Israeli injustices against the Palestinians.

Mahathir told The Star neither Bush nor Kerry want to address the root problem of terrorism because that would "annoy the Jewish group (voters)."

"If you mention Palestine as the root cause (of terrorism), you will lose the election. So neither Kerry nor Bush will mention Palestine," he said.

"But surprisingly, the electorate appears to be willing to accept a person who told a blatant lie and to elect a liar as their president," he said, referring to Bush's claims about Saddam Hussein stockpiling weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

"The American people are, by and large, very ignorant and know nothing about the rest of the world. ... Yet they are the people who will decide who will be the most powerful man in the world," he said, adding that he thinks Bush will win the November 2 election.

He also blasted Bush's close allies British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Australian Prime Minister John Howard, who won a resounding victory at national polls early this month.

"They (accepted) Blair, and I am sure they will accept Bush. They have already accepted Howard who told a blatant lie," he said, without elaborating.

Mahathir's last days in office were tainted by a controversial speech he gave at a summit of Islamic leaders when he said "Jews rule the world by proxy."

- AP