THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

There has been speculation in the past month that a general election will be called by early 2011. This would be considerably before its due date, which falls in March 2013. If an early election is called, it may be because the BN wants to make the most of a possible conviction against Anwar Ibrahim, the leader of the opposition Pakatan Rakyat alliance, who is in court fighting sodomy charges.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Economist Intelligence Unit, London

This is probably the best part of BSA Tahir’s testimony to the Home Ministry. He relates how he was tricked into coming back to Malaysia and how Kamal Abdullah and Shah Hakim delivered him into the hands of the Malaysian Special Branch, CIA and MI6. He was then told to ‘accept lah’ whatever happens to him. It was not enough, however, that they detain him under the ISA to keep him quiet. He was not detained in Kamunting where he would come into contact with other ISA detainees. He was hidden in a secret location where no one could get to him.

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Raja Petra Kamarudin

In BSA Tahir’s testimony to the Home Ministry, he reiterates that he had not acted alone in the ‘crime’ he was alleged to have committed. He further states that the Prime Minister, IGP and Atomic Energy Agency of Malaysia have all cleared him of any wrongdoing and confirmed via public announcements that he violated no laws. BSA Tahir, however, was singled out for detention without trial while all the others were spared in spite of all this.

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Raja Petra Kamarudin

BSA Tahir was detained under the Internal Security Act to avoid charging him in court where the names of all the others involved would surface. His ISA detention was based on the allegation that he acted alone without the knowledge of anyone from SCOMI or SCOPE.

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Raja Petra Kamarudin

Was the detention of BSA Tahir a matter of national security? Was it to safeguard the security of Malaysia or was it to cover up the involvement of those who walk in the corridors of power in illegal activities? Since the evidence is so overwhelming why detain BSA Tahir without trial? Why not charge him in court and secure a conviction? After all, BSA Tahir never denied what happened. He just denied that he acted alone and that the Malaysians did not know what was going on.

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Raja Petra Kamarudin

According to the statement of accounts supported by bank statements that BSA Tahir showed the Home Ministry, almost RM20 million was transferred from Libya to Malaysia to finance the production of the nuclear centrifuge. Tahir also revealed that SCOMI submitted a bogus agreement to the Security Commission for purposes of listing the company on the Malaysian stock exchange.

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Raja Petra Kamarudin

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Raja Petra Kamarudin

You have read what the IGP said in his ten-page press statement, which we published on Monday. Before we go into what BSA Tahir has to say, or his side of the story, let us first read what his Detention Order said. A Detention Order is basically the grounds (or charges) for your ISA detention. And according to the grounds for detention it clearly states that BSA Tahir conned and misled SCOPE into doing something illegal and that the Malaysians were totally unaware of what was going on.

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Raja Petra Kamarudin

On 20th February 2004, about three months after Abdullah Ahmad Badawi took over as Prime Minister of Malaysia, the IGP issued a ten-page press release. In this press release the IGP confirmed that Buhary Seyed Abu Tahir or BSA Tahir was involved in the supply of nuclear centrifuges to Iran and Libya.

Basically, the purpose of this lengthy press release was to exonerate any Malaysian of this crime and to put the blame squarely on foreigners. And to reinforce this allegation, BSA Tahir was detained under the Internal Security Act.

But was this a cover-up?

This was the 'public statement' by the Malaysian police. Later we shall see the ‘not public’ Home Ministry confidential report of what really happened and whether any Malaysians, in particular the 'First Family', were involved.

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Raja Petra Kamarudin

"For many years U.S. and Malaysian forces have cooperated on a wide range of missions with virtually no fanfare or public acknowledgement. And in spite of its success, our bilateral defense relationship seems to be an all too well-kept secret," said Najib Tun Razak on 3rd May 2002 at The Heritage Foundation.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin