The revelation was meant to help Malaysians understand why the bridge idea was scrapped, and to "put the record straight on a string of allegations" Mahathir raised - including his claim that the decision showed the current government has "no guts" - the statement said.

The declassified documents include correspondence between Mahathir and Singapore's then-leaders Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong, and records of a March 2005 meeting between Goh and Mahathir's successor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the statement said.

"This is only the second time in recent history that information protected by the Official Secrets Act 1972 has been declassified and approved for public consumption," it said.

"Running the government is not about scoring points or engaging in brinkmanship," the statement said. "It is about weighing the pros and cons and reaching a decision that is good for Malaysia."

It didn't say when the full documents would formally be made available, but some extracts from the were given.

Mahathir, who retired and handed power to Abdullah in 2003 after 22 years in office, promoted the bridge in the late 1990s to replace a causeway linking Malaysia and Singapore across the narrow strait between them.

But negotiations on the bridge and other bilateral issues, such as the price of water that Malaysia sells the city-state, went unresolved for years, sometimes sparking friction between the two countries.

Abdullah announced in April that the Cabinet had decided to drop the 1.1 billion ringgit (US$306 million; €240 million) bridge project, saying Malaysians were unhappy with Singapore's preconditions for the plan.

The decision - as well as Abdullah's handling of issues such as the national car industry - drew accusations from Mahathir that his successor is bungling economic and national policies.

Mahathir currently holds no government post, but retains significant respect within Malaysia's ruling party. His criticism has triggered fears of political infighting.

Mahathir has claimed Abdullah's government proposed the sale of Malaysian sand for Singapore's land reclamation projects, and over-flight rights for Singaporean air force planes, as bargaining chips to build the bridge.

However, the Prime Minister's Department said Friday that airspace had been on the negotiating table since 1998, and that Mahathir had mentioned it as a possible trade-off in a letter to Lee in 2002.

Other documents, including records of a meeting between Abdullah and Goh, proved that Singapore requested the sand and air space use - not the other way around - the statement said.

"The present government had to make a firm decision to reject Singapore's quid-pro-quo proposal on sand and air space as it would have compromised Malaysia's national sovereignty," the statement said.

Mahathir and Abdullah were both abroad separately on vacation, and their aides couldn't immediately be contacted for comment.

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