Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has promised that PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim will not be dealt a 'black eye' this time around, said the opposition party's vice-president Azmin Ali.

Azmin said the premier told him this during a 45-minute meeting at the Parliament building which started close to 9pm.

abdullah ahmad badawi pak lah 110907 The PKR leader said he had also conveyed his concern to Abdullah regarding the opposition icon’s arrest over a sodomy charge this afternoon.

He also asked the prime minister why the police had resorted to such drastic measures when Anwar promised to present himself at the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters at 2pm.

"There were 15 commandos to arrest him when he said he will be there by 2pm. Why? Why?" he told reporters.

'Listened to our concerns'

azmin ali However, the PKR vice-president refused to divulge further details beyond saying that the meeting went well.

"PM listened to our concerns and guaranteed that there will be no black eye incident," he added.

Also present at the meeting which was held at the prime minister’s office on the second floor of the Parliament building were Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz and PKR Penang chief Zahrain Mohamed Hashim.

anwar ibrahim 1998 arrest reforamsi days 010708 black eye In 1998, Anwar sustained a black eye when he was assaulted by then inspector-general of police Rahim Noor.

The police said that they decided to arrest Anwar this afternoon because they felt that he would not meet the 2pm deadline.

Yesterday, the police gave Anwar an ultimatum to be present at the police headquarters at 2pm or face the possibility of arrest. The PKR leader agreed to show up.

Initially, he was supposed to have his statement recorded on Monday. However, he refused to go on claiming that the police acted unprofessionally by 'intimidating and harassing' his staff and family while attempting to serve an order under Section 111 of the Criminal Procedure Code on Sunday.

On June 28, Anwar’s 23-year-old former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan filed a police report accusing the politician of sodomising him.

Anwar claims this is a political conspiracy but the authorities have denied this.