Malaysia's former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad has denounced the country as having "no guts" and said the government's decision to scrap a controversial bridge to Singapore was the "limit", reports said today.

"If you surrender your sovereignty to Singapore... I think this is a... country which has no guts," Mahathir was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times .

"I promised not to interfere in politics and I have not said anything about many things done which were wrong," he said.

"But this is the limit, to surrender your sovereignty to Singapore as if you are scared of them. This does not speak well of your self-respect."

Since stepping down in 2003, Mahathir has launched a number of broadsides against the new administration, which has been gradually unravelling his vision for the country, particularly megaprojects like the national car.

'This is our country'

Amid allegations his ferocious attacks are undermining the government, Mahathir described his relationship with Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as "very fine and very good".

"I am unhappy only when you kowtow. This is our country, yet we have to seek permission from another country to build a bridge on our side. Where is the sovereignty?" he asked.

Mahathir has repeatedly attacked Abdullah's decision to scrap the building of the bridge to Singapore to replace an ageing causeway, after the neighbouring republic demanded major concessions in return for agreeing to the project.

Last month's abrupt decision to cancel the bridge, which was first proposed by Mahathir, came after nearly a decade of prickly and unproductive negotiations with Singapore.

The neighbours have had a poor relationship ever since the city-state was ejected from the Malaysian federation in 1965.