VP Kalla says he will meet Anwar

VP Kalla says he will meet Anwar

Achmad Sukarsono, Reuters/Jakarta

Vice President Jusuf Kalla insisted on Wednesday he would meet
prominent Malaysian opposition figure Anwar Ibrahim this week
despite Malaysia's prime minister urging foreign leaders to think
twice before seeing him.

Former deputy premier Anwar, freed from almost six years in
jail in September, is visiting neighboring Indonesia for several
days as part of an international tour to rekindle relationships
he built up before his imprisonment.

A senior Anwar aide has said he would have dinner with
Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla on Thursday night. That
would coincide with an official visit to Jakarta by Malaysia's
current deputy prime minister, Najib Razak.

"This has nothing to do with politics or struggles. If you
have a friend of 20 years, how could you not meet," said Kalla,
the outspoken deputy to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

"He is now a free man and he has the right to go wherever he
likes to. This meeting has no connection to politics and it won't
be held at my residence," Kalla told reporters after meeting
Najib. He was speaking after Najib had left but declined to
confirm if he would actually dine with Anwar.

Malaysian diplomatic sources said Kuala Lumpur would not
protest should Kalla meet Anwar. But one source added: "We stick
to the prime minister's line."

The source told Reuters that Najib's trip had been planned
months ago, and was not aimed at countering Anwar.

Anwar was sacked from government in 1998 after falling out
with then prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, and later jailed on
what he called trumped-up charges of sodomy and graft. Before his
fall he had been expected to take over one day as leader.

On Monday Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi cautioned
foreign leaders about meeting Anwar, saying they should think
about the feelings of Malaysia's government when the country's
opposition leaders sought appointments.

Susilo had no plan to meet Anwar, officials said.

Anwar has denied he was trying to drum up political support in
Indonesia, where he has many friends in the elite who spoke out
in his defense in the late 1990s.

Malaysia's ruling party is especially wary of Anwar's return
to political life, although he is barred from standing for
political or parliamentary office until April 2008.

Anwar led anti-government protests before he was arrested.