Anwar may suffer from a different poison

Anwar may suffer from a different poison

KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): Initial tests on Anwar Ibrahim suggest he was not poisoned with arsenic but doctors suspect the jailed politician suffers from another type of poisoning, a top hospital official said in a news report on Wednesday.

Khalid Abdul Kadir, director of the National University Hospital, said there were no signs that Anwar was "seriously ill" based on a round of complete tests conducted on the former deputy prime minister, who was admitted on Sept. 10.

"There are also no signs to verify that he does indeed suffer from (arsenic) poisoning," Khalid was quoted as saying in the Malay-language daily Utusan Malaysia.

The report quoted Khalid as saying that Anwar would remain hospitalized and undergo further tests since he could be experiencing a different sort of poisoning.

However, Khalid later called the news report of sensationalism and insisted that there was still no proof that Anwar wasn't being poisoned with arsenic, reported the national news agency Bernama.

"We still do not know all the test results and are waiting for the complete laboratory tests before we issue any conclusive reports," he said.

Anwar's family and lawyers claim that political enemies tried to poison the former No. 2 leader based on test results from an Australian lab showing high levels of arsenic in his body.

The government has dismissed Anwar's poisoning allegations as a political ploy ahead of upcoming general elections. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad even suggested that Anwar's family might have provided the poison for his urine.

Anwar had been fired last September by Mahathir, who claimed he was corrupt and had committed sodomy, a crime in this predominantly Muslim nation. Anwar was convicted of abuse of power and sentenced to six years in prison. He says all the charges against him were crafted to end his challenge to Mahathir.

The ongoing sodomy trial of Anwar, who is serving a six-year jail term for corruption, has been postponed until his release from the hospital.

Khalid wrote a letter to the court last Friday asking for the adjournment because Anwar was "not fit" to attend trial. He listed ailments including a lung and respiratory problem and high blood pressure that dropped when he stood up.

In the report published Wednesday based on an interview a day earlier, Khalid said that Anwar's condition had improved.

Anwar's hospitalization sparked a fresh wave of massive anti- government protests in the capital, Kuala Lumpur. Demonstrators demanded an end to Mahathir's 18-year rule and justice for Anwar.

In what appears to be a crackdown on dissent, police have arrested seven prominent activists for their alleged role in the protests.

On Wednesday, the opposition leader in Parliament Lim Kit Siang called for a royal commission of inquiry to take over investigations of the poisoning allegations.

"Government credibility has plunged to a new low in the past 12 days as a result of the ham-fisted manner in which the ... government, spearheaded by the prime minister himself, tried to discredit the allegation of Anwar's arsenic poisoning," Lim said in a statement.

Separately, officials said on Wednesday that Anwar had officially joined the opposition National Justice Party (Keadilan) headed by his wife.

Anwar became a member on Sept. 15 and has been made the party's adviser, giving the party its first parliamentary seat since it was formed in April.

Anwar has been the member of parliament for Permatang Pauh in northern Penang state since 1982, but his MP status is still pending an appeal against a six-year jail sentence given in April for abuse of power.

A Malaysian MP is disqualified if jailed for more than a year or fined over 2,000 ringgit (US$526).

Keadilan has written to the lower house to ask it to move Anwar from the government benches and place him with other opposition leaders, party secretary-general Anuar Tahir said in a statement.