PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia had relied on Singapore documents in its fight over the sovereignty of Pedra Branca, the republic's Chief Justice, Chan Sek Keong, said yesterday.

He said most of the documents presented by Malaysia to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) were produced by Singapore.

Chan made the claim in a speech at the launch of the book, Pedra Branca: The Road To The World Court, in Singapore yesterday.

The book was written by Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister S. Jayakumar and Ambassador-At-Large Tommy Koh.

Chan said he was disappointed with Malaysia for accusing Singapore of withholding a letter from the ICJ that would have supposedly damaged the republic's case.

"The truth is that we had gone round the world looking for it (the letter) for some 30 years without success.

"You can imagine our deep disappointment when it was alleged that Singapore had withheld from the court a letter which Malaysia believed would damage our case," he said in the speech reported in the Straits Times.

He said Pedra Branca was "not an easy case by any standard" and that the written pleadings of each side filled more than 2,600 pages.

"Ultimately, the majority of the court decided that Malaysia had history on its side, and Singapore had international law on its side, and this was expressed in the final disposition of the judgment."

Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim and Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail declined to comment on Chan's claim.

Gani said he would make the "appropriate revelations" by the middle of next month while Rais said he would prefer to comment after reading the book.

On May 23, the ICJ ruled that Pedra Branca was under the sovereignty of Singapore while the nearby Middle Rocks belonged to Malaysia.

The ICJ, however, did not rule on the remaining outcrop, South Ledge, declaring that it belonged to the state in the territorial waters of which it is located.