PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim was detained by immigration officials for 30 minutes at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport this morning.

Anwar was hauled up as soon as he arrived at the airport at about 9.30am upon returning from Istanbul, where he had attended a conference.

Contacted later, his personal aide Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said the opposition leader was grilled by immigration officers because he was on the government’s “suspects list.”

The former deputy premier left the airport about 30 minutes later after being cleared. He returned to his house in Segambut.

‘Clear harassment’

In a brief message posted on his blog, Anwar said his passport was passed on to a senior government official and was returned later.

The PKR leader described the incident as a form of “clear harassment” in a Reuters news report.

“It’s a desperate attempt to harass and intimidate the public and deflect the attention from major issues of corruption among Umno leaders and the judiciary,” he added.

According to the report, Anwar’s name is still on the ‘suspects list’ and he could be barred from leaving the country. He has not been told why his name is on the list.

Earlier, his wife and PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail told journalists at Parliament that Anwar was not scheduled to take part in today’s handing over of a memorandum by polls reform group Bersih.

Anwar has come under fire from Barisan Nasional leaders for allegedly tarnishing the country’s name abroad in relation to the recent massive street protests in Kuala Lumpur.