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Anwar faces another sodomy charge

SINGAPORE: Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Sunday suggested “the police should investigate” the new allegation of sodomy that was lodged against top opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim on Saturday.

Mr. Anwar took “refuge” in the Turkish embassy in Kuala Lumpur, but he insisted he was “transported” to the diplomatic mission by those who “feared” that his “personal safety was in danger.” In a statement, he said he was “safe ... within the embassy.” And, dismissing the new allegation, he described it as “a replay” of an earlier case against him, in which he was sentenced and jailed before being acquitted and released.

Speaking to journalists in Putrajaya, Mr. Abdullah said: “All that I know is that a report has been made to the police, and the police will decide what they want to do and how.”

The police, he emphasised, “should investigate to establish whether the allegation was true or otherwise,” though Mr. Anwar had denied the charge. A man, identifying himself as Mr. Anwar’s aide, lodged a report with the police, alleging that the offence occurred last Thursday.

Mr. Abdullah, distancing himself and the coalition from this episode, said: “We don’t have any plan to do something bad to him because he said he has made a political comeback.” Alluding to the March 8 election, in which the opposition shocked the ruling coalition, Mr. Anwar said “credible sources” alerted him to the possibility of an “assassination plot” to stop him on the comeback trail.

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