Syed Hamid defends DrM against Kit Siang over bridge saga

The Sun – 26/4/2006
KUALA LUMPUR: Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar came to the defence of former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today (April 25, 2006) when opposition leader Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur) tried to "attack" him on the scenic bridge issue.
Syed Hamid said what Mahathir wrote in his open letter dated April 22 and posted on the website of Kelab Maya Umno (Umno Virtual Club) was only his opinion, without any intention against anyone.
On the other hand, Syed Hamid said Lim had bad intentions against Mahathir when he asked whether Mahathir can be "arrested, charged and jailed" for publishing certain supposedly classified letters.
"From the very beginning, I can sense that Lim has bad intentions. I do not think Mahathir had any intentions. That was his opinion. All of us are entitled to our own opinions.
"Usually Lim would be the one who opposes the Official Secrets Act (OSA) but this time, he asked for it (to be imposed)," he said when winding-up the debates on the 9th Malaysia Plan for his ministry.
Lim said Mahathir had posted some letters of correspondence between Singapore and Wisma Putra which were not included in Foreign Ministry ambassador-at-large Tan Sri Ahmad Fuzi Abdul Razak's statement to the press on Monday (April 24, 2006).
"Is Wisma Putra and cabinet going to declassify all those documents so the public will know about it or action will be taken against Mahathir - arrest and charge and jail him?" he said.
Syed Hamid said it is not fair for Lim to make Mahathir a topic of debate or to attack him with "wild allegations" because the former PM has contributed a lot to the country and he could not defend himself in the Dewan Rakyat now as he is no longer an MP
Source: The Sun | www.sun2surf.com