Malaysia pledged yesterday after talks with visiting US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton that opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim will get a fair trial on sodomy charges.
Clinton is in Malaysia to cultivate stronger ties with the moderate Muslim-majority nation, but nevertheless renewed US calls for the politically explosive charges to be handled “fairly and transparently.”
Speaking at a joint press conference after discussing the case with Clinton, Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman denied Anwar’s claim that the charges are a conspiracy aimed at neutralizing the threat he poses to the ruling coalition.
“It is in my interest and our interests to make sure Anwar gets a fair trial because if there is such a thing as political persecution, if it can happen to Anwar, it can happen to all of us,” Anifah said.
“Being an open trial I think the world will be able to judge the outcome,” he said of the charges that could see Anwar jailed for up to 20 years.
Anwar, a former deputy premier, who was sacked and jailed a decade ago on separate sex and corruption counts widely seen as politically motivated, says he is the victim of another plot after stunning 2008 electoral gains.
On a visit to Washington in June, he welcomed the attention being paid to Malaysia by US President Barack Obama, but said the US needed to be careful not to be “condoning the -excesses” of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s government.
Anwar had been expected to meet Clinton during her visit, but US officials said yesterday that there were no plans for talks.
Malaysia is the fifth stop on an Asia tour that has taken Clinton to Guam, Vietnam, China and Cambodia. She is still to visit Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Australia and American Samoa.
The trip is part of Washington’s attempts to re-engage with Southeast Asia, which former US president George W. Bush’s administration is accused of ignoring, even as China worked methodically to build closer ties in the region.
Clinton praised Malaysia’s efforts to avoid religious rifts among its population — which takes in the majority Muslim Malays as well as ethnic Chinese and Indian communities.
Clinton said the US “wholeheartedly endorsed” Najib’s efforts to promote religious moderation and was “eager to support him and other leaders who take up this call to promote interfaith dialogue.”
After serious ethnic violence in Malaysia in 1969, great efforts have been made to avoid a repeat of the bloodshed.
As part of the Obama administration’s bid to reach out to -Muslims, Clinton also addressed an Islamic university forum, fielding questions about US foreign policy in a program broadcast on Malaysian television.
She defended the US role in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, in a dialogue that is part of so-called public diplomacy where she strives to make the US’ case before a larger audience than the usual leaders and diplomats.
Taking Clinton up on her call for Malaysia to support Palestinian efforts in building a state, Anifah said he will try to bring business leaders along with him when he next visits the Palestinian territories.
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