Anwar alleges Mahathir wanted to 'finish me off'

Anwar alleges Mahathir wanted to 'finish me off'

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Ousted Malaysian deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim told on Thursday of a face-to-face confrontation with Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, whom he accused of wanting to "finish me off."

"There was a change in his attitude towards me to finish me off," he said on the fourth day in the witness box in his corruption trial.

Anwar, 51, said his "heated exchange" with Mahathir came a few days before he was sacked as deputy premier and finance minister last Sept. 2.

"I had to ask the PM three times whether he gave specific instructions to the police to frame and fabricate charges against me because throughout the one year investigation... they did not find anything incriminating."

Anwar charged that Mahathir was "angry" with him for opposing million-dollar bailout plans. Citing an example, he said the government reversed his decision and approved a bailout for diversified conglomerate Renong Bhd. after he was sacked.

Judge Augustine Paul warned Anwar his evidence was veering towards allegations of a political conspiracy -- which he had Tuesday ruled as "irrelevant" to the trial.

Justice Paul has since ordered a media blackout on remarks allegedly made by Mahathir and former police chief Rahim Noor in separate meetings with Anwar.

But leading defense counsel Raja Aziz Addrusse said Anwar wanted to show Mahathir had "malice" towards him.

Anwar is on trial on four charges of corruption alleging he abused his position to get police to cover up sexual misconduct allegations. He also faces a fifth corruption charge and five counts of sodomy.

During Thursday's hearing, Anwar said he appealed to Mahathir before he was sacked, saying he had "worked diligently and selflessly for the party and the government.

"I said to him, if he continued these threats and fabrications, I have no option but to fight," he added.

Earlier, he questioned allegations of sexual misconduct in various hotels, noting he had "lots of police escorts" as a deputy prime minister.

"How is it that they did not know my alleged rendezvous at various hotels and apartments?" he asked.

The prosecution case rests largely on a letters sent to Mahathir by his former driver Azizan Abu Bakar and Ummi Hafilda Ali, sister of his former private secretary, alleging he had extramarital affairs and was a homosexual.

Under cross-examination by prosecutor Abdul Gani Patail, Anwar said the letter written by the couple was "distributed by people who were not responsible and who were paid."

He agreed with a prosecution assertion the letter had been "spread widely through one conspiracy starting August 1997" and denied it had tarnished his image.

"I am lucky because even though there was slander and alliance to shame and to create public hatred towards me, the people still loved me and not influenced by the conspiracy," he said.

Gani complained that Anwar was again moving towards political conspiracy and was being "evasive" in his answers.

"It is important to preserve your credibility... it is my duty to advise you to give direct answers," the judge told Anwar.

The former leader denied he instructed special branch (SB) officers to arrest Ummi and Azizan but said he merely told them to "investigate deeply into the letter."

He admitted he told the special branch not to detain the couple for too long after their arrest on Aug. 17 and that they praised him for having a "good heart."

Anwar said he was initially reluctant to file a police report or "take the issue to court because the SB just began their investigations."

"I put it to you that you did not want the truth to be exposed," Gani said. But Anwar denied this and said it was a "theory that is used by my enemies."

Asked if retraction letters by Ummi and Azizan were beneficial to him, Anwar said: "The (retraction) letters were due to the investigation. How it was done I do not know... to me what is important is the truth."