Protest letter to US Embassy

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will issue a protest letter to the US Embassy over the country’s statement on investigations into Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s case and said Washington should “get its facts right”.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said he had instructed the Foreign Ministry to send the protest letter to the US Embassy.

“This is a statement which I perceive as an attempt to meddle in our administration. We have our own Government, our own laws and our own enforcement,” he told a press conference at Parliament House here yesterday after meeting up with PKR president Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

On Monday, foreign wires reported US State Department spokesman Tom Casey as saying the United States would oppose any politically motivated investigation or prosecution of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

“The main point for us is that the rule of law needs to stand above politics,” Casey was quoted as saying in the statement, adding that the department “hoped there would not be a pattern” because Anwar had faced similar charges back in 1998.”

Abdullah said Malaysia knew how to ensure the law was implemented fairly and that nobody would be ill-treated or threatened.

He said the statement seemed to indicate that the country was prejudiced against the Malaysian Government and the enforcement of its laws.

He added that it was inappropriate for a country, which is one of Malaysia’s largest trading partners, to issue such a statement.

On PKR’s Bandar Baru-Kulim MP Zulkifli Nordin saying that the party had received intelligence from a neighbouring country of threats against Anwar, Abdullah said he should lodge a police report.

“Don’t merely speculate. I hope there won’t be anybody who will draw his own conclusion and fling accusations on this matter,” he said.

“Let the probe continue,” he said.

At another press conference, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Anwar’s case “was never politically motivated.”

“Washington had better get its facts right,” he said.