a Malaysia for Malaysians

KUALA LUMPUR, June 30 — Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim says if he receives a guarantee of personal safety from Prime Minister he may then leave Turkish Embassy.

“I am here because I fear for my safety, and I will leave only if Prime Minister  and the government can give me assurances and guarantees over my safety,” he told the Straits Times in an interview.

He said he has been told of attempts to not just destroy his political career but also to assassinate him.

Anwar’s decision to seek refuge yesterday at the Turkish embassy came after a police report accusing him of sodomy was lodged a day earlier by an aide.

Anwar said conditions within the embassy walls were “good”. And from here, analysts say, he can continue to lead the campaign against Abdullah’s government.

Anwar said the latest accusations against him represented an attempt by the government to prevent his Opposition coalition from wresting power in Parliament.

“This whole thing is a sheer fabrication. They are using the same script and modus operandi because they know the number of government members of parliament who will defect to our side is growing,” he said.

Anwar added that Parti Keadilan Rakyat, which is led by his wife, plans to lodge a police report today against Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail and police chief Tan Sri Musa Hassan for allegedly fabricating evidence which was adduced during his sodomy and corruption trials in 1998.

Musa led the police investigation and Gani the prosecution team against Anwar a decade ago.

“These same two people who were involved 10 years ago are now leading the police and the A-G’s chambers. How can I take seriously the government’s claims that it is not behind this?” he said.

The latest political drama has raised Malaysia’s political temperatures by several notches.

Some say it could provoke supporters of the charismatic politician to take to the streets to protest against the government, just like they did 10 years ago.

And like a decade ago, the government is likely to react by coming down hard on the demonstrators and Opposition politicians.