Jailed former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim is deeply distressed by the attack on his family and home in Damansara, Kuala Lumpur, yesterday by a parang wielding man.

Speaking through his legal counsel Sankara Nair who met him at the Sungai Buloh prison in Selangor this morning, Anwar said the trespassing and vandalising of his home seem to be a form of "concerted harassment".

Other incidents of harassment, he said, were the theft of his car early this year, thugs who threw stones and planks into the compound of his residence and the damaging of the guardhouse two weeks ago.

He also lamented that despite two reports lodged against the man who committed the last two incidents, police failed to take action against the suspect.

"As citizens, must we be continuously subjected to threats and extortion of this nature? I am naturally deeply concerned regarding the safety and security of [my wife] Azizah and the children," Anwar said.

Sankara released Anwar's written response to the incident at his office in Wisma Kosas in Kuala Lumpur today.

Anwar's wife, Keadilan president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail who was present at the press conference said she does not rule out the possibility that the attack was "premeditated and politically motivated".

"The suspect did not do this once but twice. The incident could have been prevented if police had taken action when we lodged the earlier reports," she said, adding that the family was beefing up security measures at their residence.

The intruder entered the house in Bukit Damansara and destroyed the patio glass door, a television set and a showcase in the living room worth RM30,000 at about 3.30pm yesterday.

Wan Azizah and her four children were in the house at the time of the incident and had barricaded themselves in one of the rooms.

The man had also tried in vain to break into the room that the five were hiding in.

It is learnt that neighbours alerted the police and the man was detained half an hour later.

'Charge suspect'

Investigating officer ASP Thomas Voon of the Brickfields police station told malaysiakini today that the incident will be "investigated thoroughly".

"We have found the weapon and will see what is wrong with this man," he said.

The suspect, who identified himself as "Rahmat", is under remand for 10 days pending police investigation.

Meanwhile, Sankara said the family is demanding a full investigation into the matter and that the suspect be charged in court.

He urged the police to reveal the details of the investigation as the suspect did not only break into the house but attempted to harm Azizah and the children.

"My client's family has gone through one harrowing experience after another but the police appear not to be taking action just because they are members of the opposition. This is not right," said Sankara.

"Given the circumstances of the incident, we cannot help but to speculate [that it was politically motivated]," he added.