Bush says Malaysian PM's comments 'reprehsible'

US President George Bush today jumped into an international row over Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s comments that Jews rule the world, condemning them as both “reprehensible” and ”hateful.”

The condemnation, conveyed to reporters by US National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice, came shortly before Bush and Mahathir sat down together with 19 other leaders to open the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Bangkok.

Mahathir triggered an uproar last week at a summit of Islamic countries by stating that “Jews rule the world by proxy”. “They get others to fight and die for them,” he said.

“Everyone thinks the comments were hateful, they are outrageous,” Rice told reporters, adding that Bush ”thinks those remarks were reprehensible. I do not think they are emblematic of the Muslim world.”

US Secretary of State Colin Powell met Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar for talks that focused on the fallout from the speech.

Syed Hamid told reporters afterward that Powell had read the entire address.

The comments about Jews have prompted outrage from Washington, Australia and the European Union, which said they “had no place in a decent world”.