Even in China, Najib cannot escape the ghost of Altantuya
By Wong Choon Mei, Suara Keadilan
Even while in China on an official visit, Prime Minister Najib Razak could not escape the ghost of his alleged former mistress, Altantuya Shaariibuu, the hauntingly beautiful Mongolian model who was murdered in Malaysia in 2006.
Forced to take questions from a still-curious international press, the 55-year old Najib could only repeat that he “had nothing to do with her”.
The pregnant 28-year old had been down-and-out, trying to get her share of a 114 million euros (RM540 million) commission, when she was killed by two cops, who were part of Najib’s elite security detail.
“There’s no evidence,” Najib told AP in Beijing.
“They’ve not offered any evidence at all. I have sworn in the name of God, of Allah, that I had nothing to do with her and I can’t go beyond that,” he added.
He was referring to the opposition which has accused him of being involved in the murder-and-commission case and wants a full-fledged Royal Commission of Inquiry into it.
Najib further commented that Altantuya had been staying at “a two-star run down hotel” at the time of her murder, which in his view, was further proof that she had not been his “girlfriend”.
“If she was my girlfriend, she will be totally insulted if I put her there,” he said with a laugh.
One cover-up too many
Well-known for his extravagant tastes and habits, and glib though his answers were, nevertheless they are unlikely to pass muster with his countrymen.
Malaysians, who have been following the complex case, remember only too well the convolutions and high-level government cover-ups of the past three years, since news of the sensational murder broke.
Altantuya was shot in the head twice, her body strapped with military-grade C4 explosives and then blown up to avoid identification.
From the manner in which her entry into the country was mysteriously unrecorded by Immigration, to the controversial acquittal of Razak Baginda, Najib’s close associate who was charged with abetting her murder, right down to the still unexplained disappearance of a private investigator P Balasubramaniam and his family.
These are just some of the questions that remain unanswered.
It was the private eye who had been instrumental in spilling the beans on Najib. According to Balasubramaniam, Razak Baginda himself had said Najib had introduced and ‘passed on’ Altantuya to him.
Malaysians are also curious about the RM540 million commission paid by French shipbuilder Armaris to a firm controlled by Razak Baginda for Malaysia’s acquisition of three high-tech submarines, including two Scorpenes.
The purchases were sanctioned by Najib, who was then the defence minister. Altantuya, who speaks four languages including Russian, was a go-between in the deal, while Razak Baginda was allegedly Najib’s intermediary for the commission.
Malaysians also wonder how it can be that two of Najib’s bodyguards, who had no prior knowledge of Antantuya, could have been involved in her killing.
And yet Razak Baginda, who has admitted Altantuya was his lover and that he was the one who told the cops about her, could have been acquitted.
The two policemen have since been found guilty and sentenced to hang. Yet the most important question of all remains: But who ordered her killing?
