Malaysia’s Anwar rejects ‘totally absurd’ US lawmakers’ demand to lift Israel ban

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has rebuffed a threat by eight US lawmakers to suspend military training funds unless Kuala Lumpur reverses its long-standing restrictions on Israeli nationals. Muslim-majority Malaysia has no diplomatic relations with Israel and has long been one of Southeast Asia’s most vocal supporters of Palestinian statehood. Anwar said Malaysia was exercising its sovereign right to control entry and rejected the lawmakers’ assertion that his government was…