Anwar slandered me on 'BBC': Mahathir<\/p>\n
Former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad has accused his former
\ndeputy, Anwar Ibrahim, of slandering him in an interview on the
\nBBC's Hardtalk program.<\/p>\n
\"He told the whole world I am corrupt and made other
\nallegations,\" Mahathir told the Berita Harian newspaper in an
\ninterview published on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Mahathir sacked Anwar in 1998 and the charismatic politician
\nwas later jailed on charges of abuse of power and sodomy. He was
\nreleased in September last year when the sodomy conviction was
\nthrown out on appeal.<\/p>\n
\"If the people want to guess who the backstabber is, then this
\nis the man,\" Mahathir said.<\/p>\n
\"I nurtured him and let him enter UMNO (the ruling United
\nMalays National Organization). I helped him to become youth chief
\nand to become (party) vice-president.<\/p>\n
\"He became deputy president, then deputy prime minister -- I
\ngave him numerous offices but he still slanders me.\"<\/p>\n
Mahathir said Anwar had implied on the BBC program aired this
\nweek that he had been sacked because Mahathir was afraid of him.<\/p>\n
\"Allegedly I did not want him to replace me because I had
\ncommitted many crimes and feared that he would take action
\nagainst me if he became prime minister.\"<\/p>\n
Mahathir said one allegation Anwar had made against him was
\nthat he owned 70 percent equity in the private television station
\nTV3. \"It is slander. I (have only owned) about 200 shares in
\nMalaysian Tobacco, which I bought even before becoming a
\nminister. That is all I have.\"<\/p>\n
Mahathir, who retired in October 2003 after 22 years in power,
\nsaid slander was a sin in Islam.<\/p>\n
\"That's not good, it's sinful to slander. As someone who
\nprofesses to be religious, don't make false accusations -- it's a
\nbig sin. I think he knows that.\"<\/p>\n
Anwar, who is barred from holding public office until 2008
\nunder laws governing convicted criminals, is now a senior
\nvisiting fellow at the Johns Hopkins University in the United
\nStates. -- AFP<\/p>",
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