The fiery former Malaysian PM. 
Australian Associated Press – June 2006
MALAYSIA 'S feisty former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad has come out swinging at Australia again, labelling Prime Minister John Howard a war criminal. 
"They know exactly what they are doing. They know that when you drop a bomb, when you fire a rocket with a warhead, then you are killing people." 
Dr Mahathir, who turns 81 next month, said Iraq was a more violent place than under Saddam Hussein. 
"Yes, Saddam is a dictator, he may have killed people but the numbers that he killed does not compare with the killings that are going on now," he said. 
Dr Mahathir has long been a critic of Australia and, of the three Australian prime ministers who served during his 22 years in power, he said Mr Howard was "the worst of the three". 
"He tends to lecture to people all the time. I tried to be friendly with him when he first became Prime Minister. 
"I thought we could work together but, of course, he condemns me as barbaric and things like that, so I'm not going to stand down to that kind of thing and keep quiet." 
Before retiring in 2003, Dr Mahathir opposed Australian attempts to forge closer ties with Asia . 
He said Australia claimed to be an Eastern country but had a Western mind, with a tendency to preach and to take the moral high ground. 
But Dr Mahathir's outspokenness may prompt his expulsion from the ruling United Malays National Organisation party he once led. 
Dr Mahathir's relations with party members has plummeted in recent months, in the wake of his stinging attacks on his successor, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. 
Source: www.aap.com.au