Malaysian police look into new reports against Anwar

Malaysian police look into new reports against Anwar

KUALA LUMPUR (AP): Malaysia's top police chief said Saturday
that ousted deputy prime minister tried to interfere with a
criminal investigation against him.

Inspector-General of Police Rahim Noor told a news conference
that police were investigating four new police reports accusing
Anwar Ibrahim of tampering with evidence and intimidating
witnesses.

Since Anwar was sacked as deputy prime minister and finance
minister on Wednesday, he has been dogged by allegations ranging
from sexual misconduct to leaking state secrets.

Most of these accusations have been published in a book
entitled 50 Reasons Why Anwar Cannot Be PM, which the police have
been scrutinizing for months. The four reports announced by Rahim
on Saturday brings to eight the number of police reports filed
against Anwar.

"We have strong evidence that Anwar resorted to persistent and
consistent measures to thwart police investigations, manipulating
them for his own benefit," Rahim said. "If necessary, we'll
expose all this in court."

He added that he hoped to conclude the investigations "as soon
as possible" so they could decide whether or not Anwar should be
arrested and charged.

Rahim stressed that the ongoing police investigations weren't
politically motivated and weren't "a conspiracy at the highest
levels" to depose Anwar.

"We're investing the case under the jurisdiction of law.
Anything else wouldn't be professional," said Rahim.

Speaking to reporters outside his residence in the affluent
Damansara neighborhood, Anwar shrugged off the new allegations.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they added 20 more," he said.

He also canceled plans to lead an entourage of supporters on a
370-kilometer- (222-mile-) drive north to his hometown in Penang
state, where he would launch a rally to clear his name.

He told the reporters keeping a 24-hour vigil outside his home
that the trip had been canceled due to "unsettled business" in
the capital.

Earlier Saturday, Anwar warmly welcomed Lim Kit Siang, the
opposition leader of Parliament and his one-time chief
antagonist, into his home.

Lim later emerged from a closed-door meeting and called for an
emergency Parliament session to be convened to discuss Anwar's
plight. However, he denied that Anwar was planning to align
himself with Malaysia's opposition forces.

Lim's son, Lim Guan Eng, recently began serving an 18-month
prison term for having questioned the country's judicial system
in a pamphlet.

Human rights activists fear the beginning of a political
crackdown against the opposition as Malaysia struggles with the
worst economic crisis in 13 years.

Anwar on Friday said that if he were arrested, "hundreds more
will follow me."

Anwar was unceremoniously dumped as deputy prime minister and
finance minister after months of political differences with his
boss, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

He was then expelled as vice president of the ruling United
Malays National Organization (UMNO), after UMNO Supreme Council
members feared that police investigations against Anwar could
smear their party's reputation.

Anwar for years was seen as Mahathir's heir to the prime
minister's post. Many believed he would be given the nod from his
one-time mentor during next year's UMNO elections.

But now, the conservative Moslem who once spearheaded a drive
for stronger Islamic influence over the secular government of
this Southeast Asian nation, stands accused of sexual misconduct
and treason.

Anwar said he intends to clear his name in court, then begin a
campaign of political reforms.

Meanwhile Anwar on Saturday wished Malaysia's radical new
economic program success and said he agreed with Prime Minister
Mahathir Mohamad's criticism of the global financial system.

Anwar, speaking to reporters outside his home in the capital,
made a point of minimizing differences with Mahathir, who
dismissed him from the cabinet on Wednesday and then pushed for
his expulsion from their political party a day later.

One day before Anwar was sacked, the government announced
strict capital controls which marked a giant step away from the
free market economy which the former finance minister had long
defended.

But Anwar, who until Saturday had not commented on the
controls or on the fixed exchange rate that was imposed on
Wednesday, said he hoped they would succeed.

"I wish Dr Mahathir well. I agree with him in some of his
concerns on the flaw of the international financial system and
he's correct at that," he said, referring to Mahathir's frequent
criticism of currency speculators.

"I don't disagree with him on these issues and as a Malaysian
and a former cabinet member, I really wish that this experiment
announced on the first of September would work in the interests
of our economy and in the interests of our people, although I
believe that we have to deal with many problems."