Anwar silent, tweets blame on SB for WikiLeaks sex expose
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal, The Malaysian Insider
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim used Twitter today to dismiss a revelation by WikiLeaks that Australian intelligence believes he engaged in sodomy, claiming the source was Malaysia’s Special Branch police.
The opposition leader did not take calls to comment on Australia’s The Sun-Herald report but responded via his Twitter micro-blogging account when queried.
“Source? Polis SB Msia. Bukti tak ada (Who is the source? Malaysian police special branch. There is no proof whatsoever)” Anwar replied.
In an earlier reply, the former deputy prime minister wrote, “Source? Msian SB ha ha”
The WikiLeaks expose dominated Twitter in Malaysia today, with politicians from Barisan Nasional (BN) immediately responding to the claims.
“It was a set-up, it seems but the target couldn’t resist the bait, thus…” tweeted MCA central committee member Datuk Ti Lian Ker.
The PKR de facto leader did not respond to The Malaysian Insider, which earlier picked up The Sun-Herald’s exclusive from WikiLeaks of a leaked US State Department cable that revealed “Singaporean intelligence officials told their Australian counterparts that Anwar engaged in the conduct for which he is accused, a claim he has steadfastly denied”.
“Australia’s Office of National Assessments also states the conduct was the result of entrapment by Mr Anwar’s enemies,” reported the newspaper, which is part of the Sydney Morning Herald group.
The WikiLeaks website has promised to release some 250,000 diplomatic cables from United States that reveal explosive private views across the world. Nearly 1,000 are said to be related to Malaysia, including candid observations about Putrajaya’s refusal to co-operate on several fronts.
WikiLeaks was founded by Australian journalist Julian Assange, now being held by the Scotland Yard for sexual assault charges in Sweden. Australian commentators have compared Assange’s charges to Anwar, who was sacked as deputy prime minister in September 1998 on sodomy and corruption charges.
US President Barack Obama has called the WikiLeaks’ actions “deplorable” in phone calls to his counterparts who agreed that it should not hurt ties with Washington. US diplomats in Kuala Lumpur have also expressed the same sentiment to Wisma Putra although they have also made their concerns known about Anwar’s sodomy trial.
The cable that dealt with Anwar’s sodomy case was dated November 2008 and said: “The Australians said that Singapore’s intelligences services and [Singaporean elder statesman] Lee Kuan Yew have told ONA in their exchanges that opposition leader Anwar ‘did indeed commit the acts for which he is currently indicted’.”
ONA stands for Australia’s Office of National Assessments.
