Mr Lee Kuan Yew said the WikiLeaks cable claiming he had 'characterized' Islam as a 'venomous religion', is false.
Mr Lee said this in a press statement released today.
This follows the release by Wikileaks of a cable by the US Embassy in Singapore reporting on the visit of Senator Hillary Clinton to Singapore in July 2005.
He added that he looked up the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' (MFA) filenote of the meeting.
"Nowhere does it record me describing Islam as 'venomous', nor did I say anything which could have given that impression."
The statement, which was issued on Mr Lee's behalf by press secretary Yeong Yoon Ying, stated that Mr Lee did talk about extremist terrorists like the Jemaah Islamiyah group, and the jihadist preachers who brainwashed them.
He said that they are implacable in wanting to put down all who do not agree with them.
He also said that their Islam is a perverted version, which the overwhelming majority of Muslims in Singapore do not subscribe to.
Mr Lee said he had also pointed out that Singapore Muslim leaders are rational, and that the ultimate solution to extremist terrorism was to give moderate Muslims the courage to stand up and speak out against radicals who have hijacked Islam to recruit volunteers for their violent ends.
