PRIME Minister Lee Hsien Loong stayed silent over a controversy concerning foreign activists when he took the spotlight at the opening of the IMF-World Bank annual meetings.

Giving the opening address before about 1000 delegates inside a cavernous convention hall, Lee made no mention of the issue which World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz earlier said caused "enormous damage" to Singapore's reputation.

Wolfowitz and IMF managing director Rodrigo Rato sat on stage with three other officials of the financial institutions as Lee delivered his speech on global economic trends, his image projected onto two giant screens.

Rato and Wolfowitz both made direct appeals to Lee last week to admit the 27 activists whose accreditation Singapore had opposed on security grounds.

The 27 were among hundreds of activists which the Bank and Fund had accredited as part of a long-standing dialogue between the financial institutions and their critics.

Some of the 27 had been involved in violence at earlier international meetings, Singapore said before it partly reversed position late Friday and said 22 would be admitted.

The bank continued to press for all 27 to be allowed entry.

Activists said Singapore's position reinforced the city-state's image as a restrictive society, despite its economic success.

Delegates who heard Lee's speech said there was no need for him to address the controversy over the activists.

"He did not talk about it and I think this isn't the place to talk about those things. It's for economic and development questions," said Antonio Salvador from Equatorial Guinea.

Raj Pratap Singh, an Indian delegate, called Lee's speech excellent and said each country has to handle issues of free speech in their own way.

"Well you know we are the guests here in Singapore and we must respect their opinion about how they handle these issues," Singh said.

Political stability has been the bedrock of the economic success of the city-state, which grew from a Third World country to become one of Asia's wealthiest nations in just one generation.

Critics say this came at a price, in the form of restrictions on freedom of speech and political activity.

Shortly after Lee spoke, local democracy campaigner Chee Soon Juan ended his three-day standoff with Singapore police at a local park.

They blocked him on Saturday when he tried to leave a government-designated free speech area in the park for a march to the IMF-World Bank convention centre and the local parliament.

Despite appeals by the World Bank, Singapore refused to waive its long-standing protest restrictions during the meetings.

Any public gathering of five people or more without a police permit is deemed illegal.

Police have defended their strict security measures, saying Singapore is a high-profile "terrorist" target.

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