In a surprise announcement Wednesday, Abdullah said he was scrapping the project to end months of bickering. He said the issues of sand and air space were nonnegotiable because the Malaysian people would never accept Singapore's preconditions.

However, Abdullah told reporters Malaysia would continue negotiations with Singapore on matters not related to the bridge, such as the price of water it supplies to the city-state.

Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo said in a statement that he was "taken aback" by the about-turn because the countries were "making good progress" in the bridge talks.

The bridge dispute has added to the bad blood between the two countries, which split in 1965 after a brief union following the end of British colonial rule over what was then called Malaya.

Malaysia began building its half of the bridge earlier this year, saying Singapore could join up whenever it wants. But Singapore warned that doing so could violate bilateral treaties.

The 82-year-old, 1.06-kilometer (0.66-mile) causeway across the Johor Strait - a narrow waterway separating the two countries - is used by more than 100,000 people every day. The causeway also contains pipes for water that Malaysia sells to Singapore and a railway track.

Abdullah said there are agreements between the two countries that prevent changing water pipes and railway tracks without consent from both countries.

"We have to follow existing treaties, (otherwise) I anticipate there could be problems," he said.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said Malaysia was more concerned with maintaining good relations with Singapore than battling it in an international court.

"The best way of doing it is not through unilateral action but negotiation," he said. "If we want to build a bridge, it must be a bridge of understanding."

Still, it is possible that a bridge might eventually be built, Syed Hamid said. "Nobody thought that the Berlin Wall would be brought down but now we don't have the Berlin Wall. Let us wait for the future," he said.

Malaysia had maintained that the bridge would ease congestion and provide environmental benefits by freeing the flow of water in the Johor Strait, currently bisected into two water bodies by the causeway.

It would also have allowed ships to pass under it and berth at Johor port, which Malaysia is trying to develop in competition with Singapore's port.

Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad expressed disappointment with the government decision, claiming there would be no legal implications.

In a sarcastic barb at Abdullah, Mahathir said: "We have to look after (Singapore) people's hearts. We must be very nice to them."

Associated Press writers Sean Yoong and Eileen Ng contributed to this report.

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