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KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has reportedly blasted the United States for questioning its handling of sex accusations against opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and said he was a "snitch" for America.
The United States said Monday it would oppose any politically motivated investigation or prosecution of Anwar, who faces new accusations of sodomy with a young male aide - the same charge that saw him jailed a decade ago.
"America should not interfere with a (legal) exercise in our jurisdiction. This matter is still under investigation and it is not like we have come to a conclusion," said Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar.
"American has always tried to warn small states like us, but we have never been threatened or felt threatened," he said in comments reported in the New Straits Times on Thursday.
Syed Hamid also attacked Anwar's allegiances, reviving old allegations that he is too close to Washington.
"Anwar is a snitch for America. Every time anything happens, he reports back to America," he said.
The opposition leader faces a police investigation over the claims, which he says are concocted by the government in an attempt to derail his plan to seize power with the help of defecting lawmakers.
He has said the affair is a re-run of his 1998 sacking and subsequent imprisonment on sodomy and corruption charges. He was jailed for six years until 2004 when the nation's highest court overturned the sex conviction.
Anwar made a stunning return to politics in March elections that dealt the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition an unprecedented setback.
- AFP/yb
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