With the repeated official clarifications of the Bush administration that Malaysia was not involved as a country in the production and transportation of centrifuge parts to Libya by a private Malaysian company which is majority-owned by Premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's only son, the issue has turned into a domestic controversy between the government and opposition.

Although Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has expressed the hope that the police report clearing the company in question, Scope, of witting ties to a global nuclear black market would mark an end to the affairs, former parliamentary Opposition Leader and DAP national chairperson Lim Kit Siang disagreed.

According to Lim, a lawyer and MP from 1969 to 1999, the police report "still left many credibility issues unanswered" and "the nagging question is whether the police investigation was fully independent, impartial and thorough since the force falls directly under Abdullah as the home minister".

Lim called for "an all-party committee to probe into allegations of Malaysia's role in the international nuclear black market".

Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar also came under fire from Keadilan president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail for "abusing diplomatic machinery and resources to defend a private company owned by the son of the prime minister of Malaysia".

According to the eye-specialist and one of the few Muslim female MPs in Malaysia, the Foreign Minister's "abuses" is "yet another clear proof of how cronyism and nepotism has been shamefully institutionalized and become a political culture in Malaysia". She is also the wife of jailed former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim.

In her observation, the "abuses of diplomatic machinery and resources to defend a private company", together with some "hysterical, infantile and unthinking propaganda launched by the government-controlled media in Malaysia" had contributed and reinforced the "wrong impression worldwide" that Malaysia as a country was involved in the production and marketing of centrifuge parts to Libya.

Earlier, Syed Hamid was repeatedly quoted by local media as accusing the United States of "singling out Malaysia (for allegations) because it is a Muslim country". The Foreign Ministry also handed a formal protest note to the US administration through its Embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

However, she welcome the official clarifications of the US administration that it has not accused Malaysia or the Malaysian government of involving in the illegal proliferation of nuclear weapons and materials that could be weaponised " to the detriment of regional and international security".

She also called for "a re-opening of the investigation into the claim of ignorance or innocence on the part of Scope as well as its business activities and network in Malaysia and all parts of the world, by a bipartisan parliamentary committee, "in order to safeguard the national image, dignity and security of Malaysia".

Other opposition legislators also blasted the government and police over the controversy.

Kubang Krian member of Parliament Husam Musa from PAS argued that given the number of expatriates and foreigners involved, the claim of Scope's ignorance and innocence "revealed the weakness in the gathering of police intelligence".

Husam also questioned the rationale of the police of not taking action against Kamaluddin Abdullah, the only son of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who is a majority shareholder of Scomi, and BSA Tahir, the man named by US President George W Bush as "the chief financial controller and money launderer" of Dr AG Khan, the Pakistani nuclear scientist who recently confessed that he did direct a global black market of nuclear technology, materials and components.

He added: "The excuse of ignorance is too weak for a big company like Scope to plead". Husam's senior comrade, Dr Hatta Ramli also questioned why no action was taken against BSA Tahir by the police.

Amid the domestic political rows between the government and opposition, there are also pro-government voices urging caution, self-restraint and less rhetoric on the part of the government and the government-controlled media in Malaysia.

A retired academic and veteran foreign policy analyst who is close to the top leadership of a component party of the government told malaysiakini, that although Malaysia-US relations especially security relations are still good, these should not be taken for granted.

"In this age of global mass media, Western fear of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, and democratic politics in the election year in the US, UK and Australia, perceptions, impressions and opinions on Malaysia could change fast and sudden, beyond the control of the president and prime ministers," he said.

The academic who requested anonymity added that even if the conclusion of the police investigation that Scope was "tricked" into the business by BSA Tahir and others is acceptable and accepted, other countries may still question whether it is now certain that it would not happen again in cases of similar nature, including not only nuclear, but also biological, chemical and radiological materials that could be weaponised in one way or another.

"People may not question our sincerity in our commitment to non-proliferation (of weapons of mass destruction and their technology", but given the 'trick theory', they may doubt our capabilities, including immigration procedures and enforcement, export-import control and the collection and analyses of intelligence on the part of the police's Special Branch and military intelligence," he said.

"Too much anti-Western and anti-American rhetoric in the media, which is seen to be government-controlled, only add to even more negative impressions and perceptions, and even suspicion of Malaysia. It may also attract, motivate or encourage more undesirable elements from other countries to see, and come to, Malaysia as a politically safe and ideologically sympathetic place to conduct their illicit businesses and insidious operations".

He also remarked that, given Malaysia's diverse ethnic, cultural and religious population, foreigners of "dubious characters" and "with ulterior motives" could easily "melt into the local crowd" without a trace for many years.