Dr M again denies having sought World Bank funds

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has again denied that he had sought financial aid from the World Bank during the 1997 financial crisis or thereafter.

Commenting on the disclosure by PKR today which showed three documents which allegedly proved that he had applied for the loan, Dr Mahathir said he had to see whether the documents were genuine or otherwise, and had to seek confirmation from the World Bank on the alleged documents.

"I want to see... I want to ask the World Bank whether this is true... because nowadays even photos of human beings with someone else's body can be made.

"As far as I can remember, and I have not forgotten, I never sent any request for any money, not during the financial crisis or even after that.

"I had just criticised the World Bank, then I ask money from them for what? I would be stupid," he told reporters after a meeting with 26 participants of the reality programme 'Adik-Adikku' at the Perdana Leadership Foundation in Putrajaya.

Dr Mahathir also questioned why such documents appeared all of a sudden, whereas opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim had said that he did not have the documents earlier.

"Why only today they appeared after so many years? It's due to politics, because of the general election, (they) want to criticise others," he said.

Anwar was earlier reported to have claimed that Dr Mahathir had written to the World Bank for financial aid during the financial crisis, when delivering a speech at a dinner to discuss the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) which was also attended by representatives from the foreign missions.

Dr Mahathir in return challenged Anwar to swear on the al-Quran as proof to back the allegation.

- Bernama