evidence: KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia said on Friday a decision by the Mahathir administration in 2018 to withdraw its application to revise an International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) ruling that Singapore had sovereignty over Pedra Branca was "improper". Nevertheless, the government respects the ICJ’s decision in 2008 over the sovereignty of Pedra Branca, as well as Middle Rocks and South Ledge, said Malaysia’s Attorney-General Idrus Harun in a statement. [...] The dispute began in 1979 when Malaysia claimed sovereignty over Pedra Branca on a published map. The case was brought to the ICJ in 2003, which ruled that Pedra Branca belongs to Singapore.