Former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahims lawyers will be filing a suit against the New Straits Times for alleging in a recent report that he had links to a US lobby group.

In a statement released through his lawyer Sankara Nair, Anwar stated that the March 2 article was vexatious, distorted and suggested improprieties on his part to solicit foreign support.

Sankara said veteran lawyer Karpal Singh will be representing Anwar.

When contacted, Karpal said he will be meeting Anwar tomorrow and will file the suit as soon as possible.

According to Anwar, The ( NST ) article refers to the stale old so-called statutory declaration of former deputy Bank Negara governor Murad Khalid. It does not offer new insight into the earlier allegations of the declaration, but is merely repetitive of some parts of the slanderous remarks.

In 1999, Murad had alleged that Anwar has amassed RM3 billion in slush funds while in office.

He also alleged that under orders from Anwar, US$10 million was given over to Douglas H Paal of the Asia Pacific Policy Center, a think tank based in Washington DC, to promote Anwars image among western countries which also lobbied strongly for Anwar in the international media.

In his statement today, Anwar said, It is unusual that the editor-in-chief of NST chose to run this story based on some unknown political weekly — indicating dubious motives for deceit and slander directed at me.

I therefore hold the NST and its group editor-in-chief Abdullah Ahmad fully responsible and accountable.

Anwar also pointed out that Abdullah himself had been implicated in the said statutory declaration as getting a RM5 million payment though he subsequently denied the allegation.

It is queer that a person who claims to be maligned has the audacity to now cast aspersions on others over the same declaration, Anwar said.

Allegations

The NST report, which did not name its author, was in itself based on an article which appeared in the Feb 22 online version of The New Republic .

The New Republic article entitled The Bush administrations dubious envoy to Taiwan and written by Joshua Micha Michael described East Asia expert Paal as soliciting funds from several foreign governments for his APPC.

Paal had previously served under the administration of former US president George Bush as his adviser on East Asia and China and is rumoured to be the US de facto ambassador to Taiwan where official diplomatic ties had been severed in 1979.

NST also stated that in1999 news reports carried by the local media, the APPC had carried out a series of conferences co-sponsored by the Institute for Policy Analysis (IKD), a think tank set up by Anwar, and the Institute for Strategic and International Studies (Isis).

On the allegations on APPC, firstly, the Pacific Dialogue series were duly approved by the Cabinet, inaugurated by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and jointly hosted by IKD and Isis.

Secondly there was no truth to the allegations of the RM3 billion slush fund that I was alleged to have amassed while in office, Anwar said.

No police investigation

On the issue of funds being given to APPC, Anwar said that he has called for an independent inquiry into allegations of corruption, mismanagement and improprieties of past and present leaders.

It is shocking that the police have not even launched investigations into such serious allegations and I have yet to be questioned, Anwar said.

He also dismissed the allegations as another feeble attempt by the muzzled/controlled press, working as an instrument of political repression.

Anwar was sacked in 1998 after he was accused of corruption and committing sodomy. Found guilty of both counts, he is now serving a 15-year jail sentence in Sungai Buloh, Selangor.

However, Anwar maintains that he is a victim of a political conspiracy.