In a blogpost, Salleh said the West attacked Mahathir for exercising his right to free speech but defended cartoons insulting Prophet Muhammad as free speech.

“Why must the West demand that the entire world live by their standards and definition of free speech, while totally ignoring the sensitivities of others?

“The Western hypocrisy and double standards are appalling.”

Salleh accused the West of using the “war on terror” excuse to attack other countries without any regard for the citizens of those countries.

“If the same is done to them, they will call it terrorism. Basically, the West uses terrorism to fight terrorism.”

Mahathir, the former communications and multimedia minister said, is known to speak his mind and has even organised a conference to get the Iraq war, in which a US-led coalition brought the downfall of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, declared a criminal act.

He said the impact of that war, which killed many, had affected millions up till today through famine and illness.

“The West only speaks up when it suits their agenda and keeps silent when it does not. The objection against Mahathir is because he is not ‘one of them’.

“If Mahathir were, then what he said would be considered as merely him exercising his right to free speech. That is how the West plays the freedom of speech card.”

Earlier this week, at a forum at Columbia University in New York, Mahathir defended remarks he made before which were deemed anti-Semitic, citing his right to free speech.

“I am exercising my right to free speech. Why is it that I can’t say something against the Jews when a lot of people say nasty things about me, about Malaysia, and I didn’t protest, I didn’t demonstrate.”