The re-runs of former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim's interview with CNN's Lorraine Hahn in her Talk Asia programme scheduled yesterday was not aired as scheduled.

A malaysiakini reader who requested anonymity revealed that while CNN viewers in Singapore and Hong Kong had the opportunity to watch repeats of the Anwar interview yesterday on schedule at 1.30am, 6.30pm and 11pm, Malaysians were shown a different interview.

The initial run of the 30-minute programme went on schedule on Saturday at 11am and 10.30pm.

"Having missed the first run on Saturday, I wanted to watch the repeats on Sunday but instead they featured Hahn's interview with famous sight-impaired singer Andrea Bocelli produced much earlier (in early July)," he said when contacted.

"Incidently, a cousin called me from Singapore while Hahn's show was aired, and I asked him about it and found out that although we were both watching Talk Asia , he was watching the Anwar interview while I had Bocelli on TV."

Repeated attempts by malaysiakini to contact satellite television provider Astro and CNN proved futile.

Astro, which broadcasts the CNN channel in Malaysia, had previously been embroiled in the controversial removal of a 'sensitive' programme which examined the plight of Indian Malaysians.

Last September, the satellite television provider axed an episode of Star TV's current affairs programme, Focus Asia , which had a report on the country's 'Indian underclass'.

Astro staff unaware

Hakam (National Human Rights Society of Malaysia) secretary-general Elizabeth Wong who also waited in vain to watch the re-runs, however had the chance to speak to a staff member of Astro's programming section over the matter.

"Someone in the section informed me he had no idea what happened and knew nothing of the change of programme. He claimed that CNN must have changed it at the last minute," she said when contacted.

Meanwhile, Anwar's eldest daughter Nurul Izzah said the decision not to show the re-runs - if it was done by Astro - is a direct contradiction to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's call for reform in Malaysia and a sign that "something is not right".

"The prime minister has time and again champion for a more vibrant democracy and free media is part of democracy," she said when contacted.

"I don't know if the government was behind this but if it is, I cannot understand what is there to fear about my father's interview with CNN."

The Mahathir-Anwar fallout

She also hoped that Malaysians would be able to watch the interview through other means as Anwar had given an important message to the people.

"He stressed the need for us to be united to form a better democratic Malaysia. He said (former prime minister) Dr Mahathir (Mohamad) represents the past and that the time has come for all of us to move forward."

Among the highlights of the interview was Anwar's explanation of how he actually fell out with Mahathir.

He told CNN that he strongly opposed Mahathir's plans to bail out his 'cronies' and his children during the 1997 financial crisis.

"Between me and his children, I lost," Anwar explained, when he told Mahathir of his reservations to use government funds for the bailouts.