Umno Youth deputy chief Khairy Jamaluddin today clarified the allegation that his father-in-law, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, owns a 'RM60 million' house in Australia.

According to him, the house belongs to Abdullah's son and prominent businessman Kamaludin

However, Khairy is not certain about the price of the sprawling mansion located in an elite suburb in Perth.

"May be it (the price) does not reach RM60 million ... may be it is lower than that," he told malaysiakini when met at Machap, Malacca.

Khairy was asked to respond to former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad who recently said a 'top leader' in Malaysia has a house worth RM60 million in Australia.

Mahathir, whose ties with Abdullah has been strained since last year, made the allegation during an Umno gathering in Johor last week.

Elaborating, Khairy said the former premier did not provide any proof to back his allegation.

Not afraid of Singapore

The Umno Youth deputy chief denied another claim by Mahathir that Malaysian leaders are afraid of their counterparts in Singapore.

According to him, fear is not a factor and foreign policies are crafted with the interest of the nation taking precedence.

"Malaysia's foreign policy is based on the principles of strictness and courage with all nations, including Singapore," he said.

He added that the government cancelled the crooked bridge project, mooted by Mahathir, for the interest of the nation and not because of pressure from Singapore.

The former premier had lambasted Abdullah over this issue and accused his handpicked successor of pandering to the demands of the republic.

Meanwhile, Khairy also stressed that Umno Youth had taken into account the interest of the Malays in Johor in relation to the Iskandar Development Region (IDR) project.

"I have written two articles on the IDR in the local dailies ... concerning the benefits and opportunities for them (Malays in the state).

"I have explained what we should be wary of about the IDR and the Free Trade Agreement with the United States," he said.

"I presume he (Mahathir) did not read the articles, so he does not know," he added.

Mahathir claimed that the IDR project will allow foreigners to come in and trample over the locals in Johor.

Unhealthy alliance

Asked to comment on the cooperation between DAP and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) for the Machap by-election, Khairy said the opposition parties are lying to each other.

He said in the 1999 general elections, DAP and PKR worked closely together but broke off in the 2004 polls and are now cooperating again.

"If they can lie to each other, they can also lie to the people. They don't have a formula for themselves, so how can they rule the country," he added.

In a related development, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, who was also present in Machap, declined to comment on the RM60 million mansion allegation.

He said the issue has nothing to do with the by-election.