Former opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim claimed today that the government wanted his statement to the task force on foreign exchange (forex) losses to be used against former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“They wanted to use me to attack Mahathir, but I said you cannot use this to attack Mahathir solely," Anwar  told reporters on the sidelines of his qazaf proceedings at the Syariah Court of Appeal in Selangor.

Mahathir, who formed the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, is a vocal critic of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak for his handling of 1MDB and the country.

He was Anwar's mentor, then nemesis, and now a fellow opposition ally.

Anwar also stood by the statement he gave to the task force that Nor Mohamed Yakcop was the source of the losses suffered.

“I have been consistent in my statement in calling for Nor's resignation then, for the forex losses," he said.

But then, he added, Nor was appointed as second finance minister in former PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's cabinet.

“When Nor was appointed (during my time), the condition was that he should not be involved in the institutional finances.

“But he was then appointed as second finance minister (during Pak Lah's time). They (BN and Umno) are not satisfied with my comments,” Anwar pointed out while being hurried away by prison and police officers.

Anwar had previously complained about Nor (photo) being further entrusted with Khazanah Nasional, a post which he had held under Najib's administration.

In a statement he released two days ago, Anwar said Nor had been banned from handling national finances following his resignation as head of Bank Negara Malaysia's forex trade operations in 1994.

The PKR de facto leader said this when asked to comment on Information and Communications Minister Salleh Said Keruak's statement that Anwar had kept changing his story on the forex scandal.

“When he is with Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Anwar says one thing.

“When he is opposed to Mahathir, he says something else. And now that he is, again, with Mahathir, Anwar adds a new twist to the story,” Salleh had said in a blog posting.

Anwar recounted telling the task force that the then-BNM governor, the late Jaafar Hussein, had in 1993 said that Nor Mohamed Yakcop had given him an inaccurate report and that he had accepted Nor Mohamed's resignation as he was the officer responsible.

"Jaafar, himself, took full responsibility even though I acknowledge his integrity and trust that he was not given the full explanation by Nor Mohamed," Anwar said.