The Malaysian High Commissioner to Australia was recalled this week amid controversy in Canberra over assault allegations in a police report lodged by the wife of a staff member.

According to the Australian newspaper Herald Sun today, Mohamed Arshad Hussain was removed from his office after a report in the daily last week revealed that he had been investigated by the Australian Federal Police "over an alleged common assault".

Yesterday, Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar confirmed to Bernama that the diplomat will be transferred back after the Hari Raya celebrations.

Syed Hamid said he would decide later if Mohamed Arshad would be posted to another country, but gave no reasons for the diplomat's sudden departure after only one year in his position.

No charges filed

The allegation first surfaced when a Nov 28 Herald Sun report said the Malaysian envoy was being investigated by the Australian police after receiving an official report by the complainant, who is also said to be a Malaysian.

However, no charges were filed against Mohamed Arshad due to insufficient evidence.

"After a liaison with the Department of Public Prosecutions, it was determined there was not sufficient evidence to proceed with a prosecution. The matter is now finalised," an Australian Federal Police spokesperson was quoted as saying.

The report also noted that the police had initially sought authority to interview Mohamed Arshad from authorities in Kuala Lumpur via the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

"Shortly after and prior to us getting a response to that request, (the) police came back to us and said they had conducted further investigations and decided not to proceed," said a spokesperson for the DFAT.

Meanwhile, officials from the Foreign Ministry's Australia desk were unavailable for comment.

Acting Australian High Commissioner to Kuala Lumpur Nicholas Brown also declined to comment further on the matter.

Bilateral quarrels

Mohamed Arshad was posted in Australia from Nov 6 last year after serving a prominent previous term as the Malaysian ambassador to the Philippines.

He had successfully negotiated for the release of three Malaysians two years ago after a group of tourists and locals were kidnapped by southern Filipino separatist group, the Abu Sayyaf, from Sipadan in Sabah.

The envoy's withdrawal comes at an importunate time as Malaysia-Australia relations have reached new lows with several bilateral spats in the last month.

Last week, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad started a war of words with several Australian ministers when he said that Australia would never be accepted by Asean countries if it persisted in behaving as the United States' "deputy sheriff".

His Australian counterpart John Howard also annoyed governments across the Asean region after threatening to launch pre-emptive strikes in neighbouring countries to prevent terrorist attacks.