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PENANG, Malaysia - Malaysia's police chief and the attorney-general will be excluded from an investigation against opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim who has been accused of sodomy, the prime minister said.
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said late Saturday Musa Hassan and attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail would have no role in the case and that there was no reason to suspend them, as the opposition had called for, as they would not be involved in the probe.
"They will not be involved at all in the case and the investigating officers will also not refer to them. Therefore, I do not see any reason why they should be suspended," Abdullah told reporters in the northern island state of Penang.
He said police involved in the case would also not refer to Musa or Abdul Gani during the investigation.
Anwar, a former deputy prime minister has said he was the victim of a "vendetta" after spending a night in police custody last week over sodomy accusations levelled by a young male aide, a volunteer in his Keadilan party.
He said he was being targeted because of allegations he has made against Abdul Gani and Musa over his treatment during his original trial.
He has accused them of manipulating evidence in an investigation into the severe beating he received when he was in police custody at the time.
The Anti-Corruption Agency has since recorded statements from Anwar, Musa and Abdul Gani over the incident.
"This shows some acceptance of the controversial role that they have played in the past, in the 1998 case," said Anwar's lawyer and Keadilan vice president Sivarasah Rasaiah.
"However that does not still address our concerns because it does not take much imagination to see how both the police chief and the AG could still direct operations even while not being involved," he told AFP.
Anwar rejected the allegations levelled by 23-year-old aide Mohamad Saiful Bukhari Azlan as another conspiracy, following the events of 1998 when he was sacked as deputy premier and jailed on sodomy and corruption counts.
The sex conviction was later overturned.
He has also refused to supply a DNA sample to the police for fear it could be manipulated, provoking Abdullah to challenge his opponent to submit to a DNA test if he had nothing to hide. - AFP/vm
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