Anwar, arrives in Germany, PM Badawi denies deal
Anwar, arrives in Germany, PM Badawi denies deal
Agence France-Presse, Munich, Germany/Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia's former deputy prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim, was admitted on Sunday to a clinic in Munich, southern Germany, for surgery, a spokeswoman there said.
"Mr. Anwar was admitted today," said the spokeswoman at the Alpha-Klinik, which specializes in back and knee ailments. Anwar will be treated there for a back injury he has blamed on Malaysian police.
Anwar, 57, was released from prison in Malaysia last week after six years behind bars on corruption charges. He was freed when he won an surprise appeal on Thursday against a nine-year sentence for sodomy.
He was sacked by former prime minister Mahathir Mohammad in 1998 and later sentenced to 15 years in jail on charges he said were trumped up to prevent him mounting a challenge for the premiership.
Aides said Anwar would undergo surgery on Monday to treat the injury, a narrowing of spaces in the spine that results in pressure on the spinal cord or nerve roots, which he says was caused by a police beating after his arrest in 1998.
The aides said the popular politician, who plans to return to public life, plans to return to Malaysia in about three weeks if the operation goes smoothly.
In Kuala Lumpur, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has denied that he struck a deal with Anwar before the latter was freed last week.
"I don't deal with anybody," Abdullah was quoted as saying by several newspapers on Sunday, rejecting speculation that a behind-the-scenes agreement prompted the Federal Court to overturn Anwar's sodomy conviction.
"They (reports) are all speculation," he said.
Surprise over the court's decision sparked rumors that Anwar and Abdullah had made a deal under which he would be freed in return for either keeping a low political profile or returning to the fold of the ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO).
Anwar, 57, a former vice-president of UMNO, and his wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail who heads the opposition National Justice Party (Keadilan), have also strongly denied any deal.
University of Malaysia political scientist P.Ramasamy said he was inclined to believe the politicians.
"In Malaysia people always think there's something big, some conspiracy. I doubt it. I think it's a matter of Abdullah telling the judiciary 'You make the decision'. Abdullah provided the political context in order for the judiciary to make their own decision."