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![]() Wednesday, November 18, 1998 Published at 08:38 GMT ![]() ![]() World: Asia-Pacific ![]() Reform protests follow Gore's Malaysia speech ![]() Gore said he had heard Malaysia's "brave" calls for reform ![]()
The Malaysian Foreign Minister, Abdullah Badawi, hit back at Mr Gore saying: "Malaysians do not take kindly to sanctimonious sermonising from any foreign quarter, especially the United States, a country which is known to have committed gross violations of human rights."
They chanted the now familiar call of 'reformasi' and repeated called for Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to step down. One banner read: "Time for Change, Time for Reform, Time for Anwar".
Dr Mahathir was hosting a dinner nearby for leaders attending the two-day Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit, which ends on Wednesday. Trial suspended
Protesters at Tuesday's demonstration commended Mr Gore's speech: "They were very strong remarks expressed by a foreign leader of what he thinks is the situation in Malaysia," said one.
A BBC correspondent in Kuala Lumpur, Simon Ingram, says some local activists have also questioned whether public declarations of US support are in the best interests of Malaysia's reform movement. One analyst said it could give the impression that the reformers were part of a foreign plot against Dr Mahathir. War of words
Ministers accused the US of inciting unrest aimed at overthrowing the government.
He said it was "abhorrent" that the US Government should incite "certain elements within the country" to use undemocratic means in order to overthrow a constitutionally elected administration. Mr Badawi said Malaysians would hold the US responsible for any rupture of their country's harmony. US policy
Assistant secretary of State for East Asia, Stanley Roth, who is travelling with Mr Gore, said the vice president was simply expressing US policy. "We make our positions known with respect to these issues in Malaysia, just as we do in every other country around the world," he said. ![]() |
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