‘Abu Sayyaf Links Turned Dr M Red’

K Kabilan

However, his attack against the Time magazine over the article was moderate as he was not personally mentioned and wanted to keep a lid on the possible links, said US diplomats.

KUALA LUMPUR: Dr Mahathir Mohamad was unusually moderate in his attacks against two articles which appeared to criticise his government in the Time and Fortune magazines in early 1995 as he was “not personally mentioned in the stories”.

Also, Mahathir was not keen to pursue his attacks against the Time magazine article in particular as it involved his government’s alleged links with the Aby Sayyaf movement from the Philippines.

“Given the murky general history of Moro-Malaysian dealings, he may feel it best not to go into too many details,” wrote US diplomats based in the US embassy here in their confidential cable to the US State Department in Washington. The confidential cable was dated April 13, 1995.

The cable was leaked by whistleblower site WikiLeaks and handed over to FMT today.

The US diplomats felt that Mahathir was quick with his anti-West attacks when the two articles were published, especially since the general election was imminent then. However, they noted his reaction was “moderate and apparently shortlived”.

The US diplomats felt the main reason for Mahathir’s muted attack on Time and Fortune was largely due to the fact that he was not personally targeted in the two articles.

The diplomats also mentioned that Mahathir could have been mindful that his recent anti-British and anti-Australian outbursts had not given him clear-cut victories.

They said that they felt that the Malaysian government did not wish to make an issue of the Time article, especially considering the historical ties between the Moro movement and Malaysia.

The Time article appeared in its April 10, 1995 issue, alleging that Southern Philippine Muslim extremist group Aby Sayyaf was receiving arms, money and training for Islamic groups in various countries, including Malaysia.

The article further claimed that Abu Sayyaf used training camps in Malaysia and was expecting arms shipments from Malaysian supporters.

Western Media Campaign

Mahathir’s reaction to the article was to immediately label it as “part of a campaign by the western media to discredit Malaysia” to deter investment and tourism.

The Time article came just after another article in the Fortune magazine which had said that the Malaysian currency was facing risk.

US diplomats said that Mahathir was worried of the negative impact that the two articles could cause Malaysia.

However, they said that no one from the government had formally or informally complained about the Time article to the US embassy.

They added that Mahathir had ordered a delay in the distribution of the Time issue but did not ban it, and indicated that they were informed by observers that the magazine would be allowed to go on sale in two weeks’ time.

The US displomats noted in the cable that Mahathir’s anger against Time was “moderate and short-lived” and was nothing compared to his actions against other publications in the past.

They pointed out that he had denied contracts to British firms in response to an unflattering articles in the British press.

- FMT