Mahathir says Canada's visa ruling "very unfortunate"

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Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad today questioned the timing of new visa restrictions imposed on Malaysians by Canada and described the move as "very unfortunate."

Malaysia had thought that the Canadians were friendly, "but apparently we don't know the Canadians very well," Bernama news agency quoted him as saying.

On Canada's claim that Malaysian passports were vulnerable to abuse, he said: "Well, if that has been so, it has been so for a long time and they have not discriminated against us. Why now?"

Malaysians had been exempted from the visa requirement in the past because both countries belong to the Commonwealth but the Canadian government last week said Malaysians would now require a "temporary resident visa" to enter the country.

Syed Hamid's warning

Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar has urged Canada to review the ruling, saying it appeared to be targeted at Islamic countries and warning it could hurt Ottawa's ties with its top trading partner in Southeast Asia.

Defence Minister Najib Tun Razak also slammed the "unfair" ruling which suggested that Ottawa viewed the mainly Muslim Southeast Asian country as a terrorist hub.

Canada, however, has refused to budge on the visa ruling, which has also been imposed on citizens of more than 145 countries.

The visa restrictions coincided with Washington's decision to place Malaysia on a list of states considered to be high risk.

Doing the right things

Mahathir, responding to remarks that the US and Canada moves showed they did not appreciate Kuala Lumpur's efforts to fight terrorism, said Malaysia "doesn't do things for other people to appreciate but we do things because they are right."

Malaysian police Friday arrested a key Islamic terrorist suspect believed to be linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda group, blamed for the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington, and have put out an alert for eight others.

The arrest brings to 63 the number of alleged Islamic extremists detained in Malaysia over the past year under a security law allowing indefinite detention without trial. AFP



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