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"Energy deal will stay"

P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE: Malaysia on Friday asserted its sovereign right to enter into an energy deal with Iran. The statement acquires importance in the context of political speculation in Malaysia that the United States might soft-pedal or even cancel their bilateral trade talks over this sensitive issue.

Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak told journalists in Kuala Lumpur that the Government would not let the U.S. to use the trade talks to jeopardise Malaysia's interests. "We must protect our [Malaysian] sovereignty" over such decisions as those relating to purchases by the Government.

At the centre of this controversy is the $16-billion deal that would help develop some gas fields in southern Iran for the benefit of both Malaysia and Tehran. The Malaysian reaction follows the reported comments by Tom Lantos, Chairman of U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, that he would ask President George W. Bush to suspend the free trade negotiations with Malaysia in protest over the Tehran-Kuala Lumpur energy deal.

Malaysian International Trade and Industry Minister Rafidah Aziz said the U.S. could exercise no right over how Kuala Lumpur should conduct its economic diplomacy with any country.

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"Energy deal will stay"

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