CANBERRA - Australian Premier John Howard said Friday he had no farewell message to give to Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad as the veteran leader went into retirement.

Asked in a radio interview if he had any remarks for Mahathir, Howard said: "I don't have any comments to make except to re-emphasise the fact that the links between Australia and Malaysia are very long, they're very deep.

"Almost 200,000 Malaysians were educated in Australian universities, and that is the soundest possible basis in a way for any relationship between two societies of people to people links.

"Those links will be more productive and more enduring than the contribution made by heads of government, be they Malaysian or Australian."

Mahathir retires on Friday, after 22 years at the head of Malaysia's government. Those years have seen the country go from poverty to become an industrial power in the region, but Mahathir's often controversial remarks have also regularly made international headlines.

In the weeks leading up to his retirement, Mahathir and Howard were involved in a war of words, with the Malaysian leader describing Australia as "some sort of transplant from another region".

Howard in turn described as "repugnant" comments by Mahathir that Jews ruled the world. - AFP