Surat Tun Mahathir Kepada Barak Akan Didedahkan

Dr M’s letter to Barak to be made public, says PM

 

KUALA SELANGOR: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's correspondence with the then Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak will be made public to dispel negative claims made by the Opposition.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said he had directed that the letter be published so that the people would be aware of the Government's stand on Israel.

“I asked Wisma Putra to take a look at the letter and I also read it and found that it can be disclosed to the public.

“We will publish it tomorrow (Monday) or the day after,” he said after visiting SJK (C) Yoke Kuan in Sekinchan yesterday.

Najib said the letter showed the concerns of Dr Mahathir, who was prime minister then, on the peace process in the Middle East.

“The content is spot on with Malaysia's policies then and now,” he said.

Najib said by publishing the letter, the people would know that the reason Dr Mahathir wrote the letter was to support the Palestinians' struggle for a sovereign state, adding that all allegations made by the Opposition would be dispelled with its publication.

“Even they (certain Opposition parties) are worried about the statement made by the Opposition Leader (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) that he fully supported the security of Israel,” Najib added.

Dr Mahathir, who stepped down as premier in 2003, had said last week that he wrote the letter to Barak after Israel wanted Malaysia to change its stand on not having relations with the Jewish state.

He said he had informed his then Israeli counterpart that Malaysia would not have any ties with Israel for as long as they refused to acknowledge the rights of the Palestinians.

On the police's recommendation for National Feedlot Corp directors to be charged, Najib said the decision was entirely up to the Attorney-General.

“I can't make assumptions on what will happen in this case as it is at the A-G's discretion and only he can make a decision,” he said.

Najib said the role of the police was to investigate while the A-G had the absolute power to decide whether or not to press charges.

“Not all investigations end in prosecutions. If the A-G is not satisfied with the investigations, he can ask the police to find additional evidence.”

In KAPAR, Najib said the Government agreed to provide an additional 1,000 places for Indian students to do matriculation courses at public institutions of higher learning.

At present, there were 559 seats for them, he said at the national Ponggal festival last night.

He said the additional intake of would be implemented after the SPM results later this year.

Najib also announced the construction of three new blocks for SJK (T) Klang and a new block for SJK (T) Methodist in Kapar under the Government's Community Chest programme.

At the launch of Selangor Barisan Nasional's Wanita, Youth and Puteri election machinery, Najib said those not selected as candidates for the next general election must not sabotage the coalition.

There must be confidence to the wisdom of the Barisan leadership in deciding on the candidates, he added.

“If one cannot be the salt that preserves the fish, one should not then be the cause of the fish going bad,” he said, adding that those who sabotaged Barisan were akin to a footballer giving away a penalty against his own team.

Source : The Star