Dr Mahathir agrees to meet old foe Soros
Malaysiakini.com
Dec 12, 2006

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad is to meet his old foe US billionaire philanthropist George Soros, who will visit the country this week.

"They are definitely meeting but the details of the meeting have yet to be finalised," said an aide to Mahathir.

"The request came from the Soros side and Tun (Mahathir) has agreed," he said.
Mahathir and Soros were once locked in a public bitter dispute which escalated to name-calling during the East Asian financial crisis of 1997-98.

The ex-premier, who in 1997 referred to Soros as a "moron," blamed him for undermining the Southeast Asian economies by destabilising their currencies, and later established capital controls to prevent currency speculation.

Soros, 76, retorted that Mahathir was a "menace to the country" and subsequently called on him to step down amid fierce controversy over the 1998 sacking of deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim.

The self-made millionaire, who will make his first visit to Malaysia, appeared to cast old enmities aside.

"We have had an exchange of letters and a personal meeting is planned if his health permits," Soros told malaysiakini in an email interview.

Regional tour

The 81-year-old Mahathir is currently recuperating after suffering a mild heart attack in November.

Hungarian-born Soros will be arriving on Thursday as part of a regional tour to promote his new book, 'The Age of Fallibility'.

The billionaire will also be addressing Malaysia's London School of Economics Alumni Society on Friday and is scheduled to leave Malaysia on Saturday, a member of LSE's alumni said.

Soros heads a foundation for an "open society" which aims to promote democracy and which provides financial aid for several countries, notably in central and eastern Europe.

He is also the founder of a network of philanthropic organisations active in more than 60 countries, which have in total donated more than US$5 billion over the years.

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