Malaysia has reiterated its support for Japan's bid to win a permanent seat on the UN Security Council despite demands from lawmakers for an apology and compensation from Tokyo for war crimes.

Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar made the commitment in remarks published today after several members of parliament attacked Japan's war record, with one describing the Japanese as "cruel, cruel, cruel" during their occupation of Malaysia during World War II.

The leader of the parliamentary opposition, Lim Kit Siang said an apology by Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi at the Asian-African summit in Jakarta last week did not go far enough.

"On the same morning that Koizumi apologised, some 80 MPs from the Japanese ruling party made their pilgrimage to the Yasukuni Shrine which also honours 14 Japanese war criminals," he said.

"The government should take the stand that the Japanese bid for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council should hinge on the Japanese government's sincerity in following up Koizumi's apology."

Lim was supported by several ruling party lawmakers, with Mohamed Aziz saying Malaysians should neither forget nor forgive atrocities committed by Japanese soldiers during the occupation which began in December 1941.

"They raped and pillaged. They stripped us of pride and dignity. Young women had to hide in bushes for days to escape their cruelty. They were cruel, cruel, cruel. We should demand a personal apology and compensation."

Follow up with action

But the foreign minister told the official Bernama news agency that Malaysia stood by a decision made in the 1990s to support Japan's bid for a seat on the Security Council, while urging Japan to back its apology with action.

"That is the position Malaysia had taken. Those issues should be handled and resolved. Japan has apologised and it should follow up with actions which indicate its seriousness," Syed Hamid said.

"At the same time, Malaysia is comitted to supporting Japan because it has the second largest economy in the world," he said.

Japan's militarist past has been a focus of soaring tensions with China, which opposes Japan's aspirations for a Security Council seat.

Japan has launched a joint bid with Brazil, Germany and India to win prestigious permanent seats on the Security Council, whose set-up giving a veto to five nations - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - dates from World War II.