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Malaysia's Mahathir admits $1.2 mil. paid for meeting with Bush+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)KUALA LUMPUR, Feb. 21_(Kyodo) _ Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has admitted that a $1.2 million lobbying fee was paid to secure a meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush at the White House in 2002, local dailies reported Tuesday. Mahathir, who was then still in office, said "somebody" paid the money, but not the Malaysian government. "It is true that somebody paid but I don't think it was the government," the New Straits Times quoted him as saying. "I did not touch the money at all. In the U.S., it is a practice that if you want to meet their leader, you have to go through a lobbyist and the lobbyist has to be paid. That is their system. It is not corruption at all and it is very open but they don't reveal names," he said. Mahathir, who had a prickly relationship with Washington during his 22-year rule, said the meeting was arranged by the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing U.S. think tank. "They talked me into meeting Bush because they said I would be able to influence him in some way regarding U.S. policies. Secondly, it would be good for Malaysia if the relationship between the two countries improved. I agreed with that. I thought I could do something good for the country," he said. The Los Angeles Times first brought the issue to light last week, connecting Mahathir, who stepped down in October 2003, with disgraced high-flying Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Mahathir was then and still is known for his tirades against the West and Jews, which would have made him an uneasy guest in the Oval Office. He had also often been chastised by Washington for his human-rights record and clamping down on the local media and the opposition. According to the Los Angeles Times, Malaysia decided to rope in Abramoff's service. Abramoff allegedly contacted presidential adviser Karl Rove on at least four occasions to help arrange a meeting. In May 2002, Mahathir met with Bush in the Oval Office. The White House said the meeting was arranged through "normal channels." White House spokeswoman Erin Healy was reported as saying Rove had "no recollection" of any conversation with Abramoff regarding the incident. The meeting took place as Malaysian and U.S. officials were discussing the post-Sept. 11 campaign against terrorism. "At the time, Dr. Mahathir was Asia's longest-serving prime minister and an influential Islamic leader," Healy said. "The president met with him to discuss Malaysia's role in the war against terrorism." According to the Los Angeles Times, Abramoff received $1.2 million from the Malaysian government for his lobbying services in 2001 and 2002. Abramoff, an orthodox Jew, is currently embroiled in a corruption scandal that threatens to drag in the White House. He had already pleaded guilty to improperly influencing members of Congress and their aides -- offering foreign travel and other benefits and later seeking favors from some of them. He often routed lobbying fees through nonprofit organizations to evade taxes or hide the sources of the funds. As for Mahathir and Bush, the goodwill that arose from the 2002 meeting was only temporary, with Mahathir soon after calling the United States a "rogue nation" especially after it launched attacks against Afghanistan and Iraq. Mahathir even earned a rebuke from Washington for telling the Organization of the Islamic Conference summit in 2003 that "Jews control the world by proxy." |