NAJIB-OBAMA TALKS SET TO OPEN NEW VISTA ON BILATERAL RELATIONS

WASHINGTON, April 12 (Bernama) -- Monday's meeting between Prime Minister
Najib Tun Razak and President Barack Obama is set to open a new vista
on relations between Malaysia and the United States.

The meeting will determine the direction the bilateral relations will take,
said Malaysian acting Foreign Minister Dr Rais Yatim.

Dr Rais, who is Information Communication and Culture Minister, said Najib
and Obama were expected to discuss several important matters, including
bilateral ties and Malaysia's role in the Islamic world.

Also expected to be raised at their talks are the Strategic Trade Bill 2010
which was passed by the House of Representatives last week as well as issues
related to security in the Asian region, he added.

"As we can see, this is the first time that our prime minister will be
having candid bilateral talks with the US president, and these issues will
determine the pattern and future of relations between the two countries," Dr
Rais told Malaysian journalists after a pre-council meeting with Najib who
arrived here
Saturday for a week-long working visit.

The Strategic Trade Bill 2010, which took almost five years to be drafted,
will
enable Malaysia to play its role as a member of the United Nations to prevent
proliferation of weapons.

Najib is one of only two leaders from Asia who will have discussions with
Obama
before the two-day Nuclear Security Summit of 48 world leaders here to discuss
Obama's initiative to confront the threat of nuclear terrorism. Obama is also
scheduled to have talks with President Hu Jintao of China.

Dr Rais, who has held the post of foreign minister before, expressed
confidence
that relations between Malaysia and the United States were at a new level under
the leadership of Najib, the sixth prime minister of Malaysia.

"At this point, I can say that what is happening following the opportunity
presented to our prime minister is that this represents a new vista, something
which did not exist in the history of bilateral relations between Malaysia and
the United States.

"I am convinced that relations between the two countries will open a new
vista
or window, associated not only with matters of international politics, but also
business and the question of Guantanamo (detention camp) where two Malaysian
citizens are also being held," Dr Rais said.

Najib had raised the issue of the detention of the two Malaysians, Mohd
Farik Amin and Mohammed Nazir Lep, when Obama telephoned him in June last year
to discuss current issues.

Malaysia wants the two detainees, who are among 250 foreigners held in
Guantanamo, to be repatriated home to be tried in Malaysia.

They were detained for alleged involvement in the militant Jemaah Islamiah
and Al-Qaeda groups since 2003.

Dr Rais said America would also probably see Malaysia as a country which has
some status in the Islamic world, and added that this might also be a topic of
the discussions between Najib and Obama.

-- BERNAMA