When George W Bush won the US presidency in 2000, then Malaysian prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad felt that the time had come for him to mend ties with Washington.

However, with the sacking and jailing of former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim casting a pall on the relationship between the two countries, the Americans needed a lot of convincing.

Mahathir was desperate. How desperate? Desperate enough to pay millions of ringgit to Washington lobbyists to help put in a good word for Malaysia in the ears of the new US administration.

It is not clear how much had been spent. According to some reports, it was at least RM5.3 million.

The investment paid off. Mahathir met Bush at the White House in May 2002. It was the premier's first state visit since 1994, and the event marked a significant turning point between the two nations.

Details of Malaysia's hiring of Washington lobbyists through US-based Heritage Foundation - a right-wing think tank - were revealed in a front-page report in Washington Post on Sunday.

Investigations show that the money was paid to Hong Kong-based Belle Haven Consultants - a company linked to Heritage's president Edwin Feulner - which funnels funds to lobbyists in Washington.

The report questioned the possibility of conflict of interests by Feulner, whose Heritage Foundation exercised tremendous influence among Washington's policymakers. It pointed out that the think tank had diluted its criticism of Malaysia soon after Belle Haven accepted the multi-million contract to lobby in favour of Kuala Lumpur.

Wooing of Washington

According to a report in Hong Kong's The Standard , Malaysia's wooing of Washington was engineered by the US-Malaysia Exchange Association (Usmea), an organisation that works to improve relations between Kuala Lumpur and Washington.

The organisation - set up in 2001 - is chaired by a staunch Mahathir man, former deputy home minister Megat Junid Megat Ayob.

The newspaper said that Usmea and Belle Haven - in which Megat Junid is believed to have a stake - spearheaded a RM5.3 million (US$1.4 million) lobbying campaign, using the platform of the Heritage Foundation.

Megat Junid told The Standard that Usmea was founded after talks with Heritage's Feulner three years ago.

"We felt strongly when Bush won the presidency it was time to establish closer economic and social connections between the two countries," he said.

In September 2001, the association arranged a visit by then Republican majority whip Tom DeLay - the second ranking leader in the US House of Representatives - his wife, his staff and two Florida Republican House members, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Ander Crenshaw.

Who paid for the junket?

It is not clear who paid for the Malaysian trip. This week's Time magazine quoted a top staff in Heritage, Malcolm Wallop - who is former Wyoming senator - as saying that his organisation did not pay for the trip.

"Belle Haven did," said Wallop.

However, it is against US House ethics rules if a group other than the official sponsor paid for a trip for a member of Congress. DeLay's spokesman Dan Allen had insisted that Heritage "sponsored, organised and paid for the trip".

It is reported today that DeLay had offered to appear before the House Ethics Committee to defend himself against the allegations.

In April 2002, Usmea brought in a second senior congressional delegation and, one month later, the association helped arrange a visit to Washington by Malaysian Defence Minister Najib Abdul Razak. Then deputy prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi also made a trip there hosted by Heritage.

The Standard said that financing for Usmea's lobbying activities had been less straightforward.

According to disclosure reports filed with the US Senate, four US firms received more than RM5.3 million in funds from Belle Haven between 2001 and 2003 to lobby on behalf of Malaysian interests.

Some of the money was paid by PK Baru Energy, a Malaysian company established in 2000 with significant shareholding by Megat Junid and his son.

Malaysian embassy's cheque

Washington Post had also highlighted an on-going US Justice Department investigation into Jack Abramoff - a former Republican lobbying powerhouse and closely linked to DeLay and the think tank American International Center (AIC).

Abramoff's former associates have produced documents that claim he had been indirectly paid by the Malaysian government.

Through the investigation, it was discovered that the Malaysian embassy in the US gave AIC a cheque for RM1.14 million (US$300,000) dated March 6, 2002.