Malaysia has denied that it gave in to Singapore after abruptly scrapping plans for a new bridge to link the two nations that had been opposed by its neighbour, reports said today.

"Our negotiations failed but we stood our ground," Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak was quoted as saying in the New Straits Times , adding the move had been well thought out.

"It is better for us to take a stand now than have legal wrangling with Singapore later," he said.

Malaysia dumped its long fought-over plans to replace an ageing causeway linking it with its neighbour, saying it could not accept a trade-off that would have given Singapore access to its airspace and sand for land reclamation projects.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has said the public was deeply opposed to Singapore being granted the concessions in return for the bridge.

He also said Malaysia anticipated legal problems if it intended to cut the causeway without Singapore's approval, once the new "half-bridge" was completed.

Legal battle

Najib was quoted as saying Malaysia did not want to be embroiled in a long legal battle that risked the country ending up with an unused structure.

"Now it's back to status quo, which means that we did not bend to Singapore," he said in The Star daily.

"Let's hope that Singapore will realise that the bridge is a good thing for both countries and they will be more reasonable in their demands," he added.

Asked if Najib still considered Singapore a good neighbour, he said: "I don't want to say. Let the people think and decide."

Singapore and Malaysia have squabbled for years over a number of issues, with negotiations on many proceeding at a snail's pace.

Other outstanding issues include the price of water that Malaysia supplies to resource-scarce Singapore, the future of Malaysian-owned railway land inside Singapore and rival claims to a rocky islet.