It's not my letter, says Dr Mahathir

It's not my letter, says Dr Mahathir
30 May, 2008
NST

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA: Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad hopes that one day his correspondence with two former Israeli prime ministers will be declassified.

"I am saying this because currently, there is a fake letter circulating around. The letter claims to have been written by me but is actually an attempt to damage my reputation," he said after attending an autograph session for his book, Dr. Mahathir's Selected Letters to World Leaders, at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre yesterday.

The letter, dated Aug 16, 1999, carrying a government letterhead and Dr Mahathir's signature, was addressed to Ehud Barak, then prime minister of Israel, congratulating him on his appointment.

According to the letter, Dr Mahathir asked for Barak's help in accessing the "Clinton Fund" for "the purpose of withstanding the onslaught of Islamic Fundamentalists in Malaysia" and raising funds for Umno in preparation for the 1999 general election.

Dr Mahathir denied he wrote the letter.

"My book contains 71 letters, but while in office, I have written more than 200 letters to various international personalities. Unfortunately most of them are still under the Official Secrets Act, including my letters to Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak.

"If the original letters were published, you would know that the letter being circulated now is a fake," Dr Mahathir said.