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."