The commentator known as 'Anwar' who caused a furore over a posting on Islam Hadhari owned up voluntarily last week to the authorities before they could trace him, sources close to the investigations said today.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the sources said 'Anwar', who works as a laboratory assistant in Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, is in his 50s and not 30s as reported last week.

"He ('Anwar') surrendered voluntarily on Oct 5 to the National ICT Security Emergency Response Centre," the sources said.

"He was interviewed by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) on Oct 9."

The sources felt that 'Anwar' did so because he knew that the authorities would eventually track him down via his e-mail through computer forensics.

"So, instead of getting hauled in under the Internal Security Act (ISA), he thought it would be better to surrender," they said.

MCMC monitoring and enforcement division head Toh Swee Hoe could not be reached for verification.

'Anwar' has since acknowledged in an apology that his comment comparing Islam Hadhari and Umno's money politics to "faeces and urine" was inappropriate.

He could, however, face charges under the Communications and Multimedia Act 2001 for posting an allegedly insulting comment on local weblog Screenshots.

This sparked furious debate over a number of issues including free speech on the Internet and use of the ISA.

Computer forensics

On Saturday, Energy, Water and Communications Minister Dr Lim Keng Yaik announced that 'Anwar' had been identified and that the MCMC's investigations report would be submitted to the Attorney-General's Chambers for further action.

Lim, who did not reveal 'Anwar's' real name, said he would brief the cabinet on Wednesday.

The ministry had earlier enlisted the assistance of the Malaysian Computer Emergency Response Team (MyCert) to trace 'Anwar'.

Contacted today, MyCert manager Solahuddin Shamsuddin was unable to confirm if 'Anwar' had come forward to authorities.

"We are not the investigating body. The commission is, and it would definitely know if this is true," he said.

"We are only mandated to assist any law enforcement agencies that request help because we have the expertise to trace the author of any malicious e-mail or online material and identify him or her by using the e-mail header which contains the IP address (digital footprint) and the time-stamp.

"We also carry out computer forensics where necessary. This is where we preserve the electronic evidence for presentation in court if and when anyone is prosecuted."

Once the e-mail address is provided by the law enforcement agency, he said, MyCert would contact the relevant Internet Service Provider (ISP) for contact details of the person concerned.

"The ISP will then provide the law enforcement agency with details of the person or persons concerned."

Solahuddin said the procedures are outlined in related laws like the Computer Crimes Act and Communications and Multimedia Act.

Comment 'careless'

In his apology written in Bahasa Malaysia and published by website Malaysia Today , 'Anwar' apologised for his "careless comment" on Screenshots and said it was not made with any ill intentions.

In retracting his comment and asking for forgiveness, he said he would be more careful in future.

When contacted, Screenshots owner Jeff Ooi admitted to receiving the note of apology but said he has been unable to verify the source.

"'Anwar' sent the note to my private e-mail address, but I could not verify his identity. I thought he may have changed his IP address because it was a different one than the one I had blocked from Screenshots," said Ooi, who had earlier been the target of complaints for the posting.

"My lawyer also advised me against publishing the apology since I was assisting in the commission's investigations."

Ooi remained firm about not publishing the apology "as it might be prejudicial to the ongoing investigations".

"I'm still unclear as to how this whole thing works...whether a blog owner can be hauled in for something that is posted in a feedback forum or just the author of the offending posting," he said.

"I was told that the commission would have to serve a warrant requesting information before it can get through to my servers."

He added that the commission, which regulates Internet content and has investigative powers, had interviewed him last week to ask about action taken upon discovering the comment on his blog.