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.