Stop making statements on Anwar

SINGAPORE: Kuala Lumpur wants Washington to abstain from making further statements pertaining to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the country’s rule of law set-up.

Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Rais Yatim said he had informed United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice of this during their bilateral talks Thursday.

Rais said he had informed Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi that he would meet Rice while attending the Asean Ministerial Meeting and would take the opportunity to talk to her on this issue.

“I had explained to Rice that investigations against Anwar over sodomy allegations were not politically motivated whatsoever. [more]

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US urges Malaysia to follow rule of law in dealing with Anwar sodomy case

SINGAPORE (AP) – U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday urged Malaysia to be transparent and follow the rule of law in dealing with the sodomy accusation against opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.

The comment is likely to irk the Malaysian government, which earlier this month accused the U.S. of meddling in its domestic affairs when a State Department spokesman made similar comments on Anwar’s case.

«The United States has long spoken and will continue to speak up about cases that we think need to be thought about in terms of the political circumstances,» said Rice, who is here to attend a regional security conference.

«We want to see transparency and for rule of law to be completely followed here,» she told reporters just before going into the 27-nation meeting. «We are always going to speak up on human rights cases, political cases, but we do so in a spirit of respect for Malaysia.” [more]

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