I was thoroughly amused by an article on page 3 of The Star (Oct 10) headlined 'Apologise to PM, news agency and reporter told'. The article quotes a statement from the Prime Minister's Department declaring the piece by Sean Yoong of the Associated Press titled 'Malaysia's Mahathir criticises attacks on Afghanistan' as "incorrect and mischievous".

The article goes on to reproduce excerpts from the Hansard of Oct 8 to justify its response. This was probably a mistake. For what was buried in the Hansard is now public knowledge.

Mahathir has yet again put his foot in his mouth with damaging statements, and the office embarks on a damage limiting exercise. Coming up with a statement that he would support the terrorists had they carried out terrorist attacks against Israel speaks volumes for his warped perception of humanity and justice. That this was an inappropriate response at a very inappropriate time certainly would not have been missed by concerned parties.

Whether the article was mischievous, I hazard no guess. But, was it inaccurate? Even those with a little knowledge of English would think otherwise.

Maybe Anwar Ibrahim's thoughts on the issue are yet again proving prophetic. Malaysiakini reported him as saying "the government-controlled media here had been deployed to stir up anti-American sentiments, while members of the political elite use a different language for international diplomacy". The Star seems to be following this to the T.