INTERVIEW | Despite claiming to be a defender of free speech, former Malaysian ambassador to the United States Nazri Abdul Aziz said Washington had disrespected Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s vocal stand on the Palestinian issue.

In a recent interview, Nazri elaborated on five separate occasions when he was summoned - under the diplomatic process known as “demarche” - to explain Anwar’s views and actions on the domestic and international front, expressing Malaysia’s anti-Israel stand and support for Palestinians under siege in Gaza.

Nazri, who recently concluded his two-year tenure as a politically appointed envoy, said the first call from the US State Department was prompted by...