INTERVIEW-MALAYSIA ANUAR IBRAHIM LOSES LIBEL SUIT AGAINST MINISTER

Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim on Thursday lost a 33-million-dollar libel suit against the foreign minister, who said Anwar offered him a top job to defect to the opposition.
The High Court allowed an application by Foreign Minister Anifah Aman to strike out the 100 million ringgit suit, Anwar's counsel Sankara Nair said, describing the decision as "absurd" as no reason was given for the ruling.
"A miscarriage of justice, yet again," Sankara said in a statement.
Court officials could not be immediately reached for comment.
In May 2009, Anifah said at a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington that Anwar tried to tempt him to defect by offering him the deputy prime minister's post.
Anwar, whose Pakatan Rakyat opposition alliance made huge gains in 2008 elections, has strongly denied making the offer of the plum job.
After the polls, Anwar made a failed bid to sign up enough defectors to seize power in the national parliament where the opposition had secured one-third of the seats in an unprecedented performance.

Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan meets KHAIRY-interview malaysia

Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said he would meet Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin over the latter''s Twitter''s posting that he would stay out of the next general election.
Mohamad said he would make a statement after meeting Khairy.
"Until them, it is not nice to make any statement as it would merely be a speculation," he told reporters here today.
Khairy was reported as saying on Saturday that he would take a break from politics and not defend his Rembau parliamentary seat in the next general election.

Women council guard sex slave in malaysia -interview

Malaysia female guard of a local council in Malaysian state of Selangor was allegedly forced to become a sex slave to three enforcement officers there for three years, Malaysian newspaper Harian Metro reported.
Her husband, who wanted to be known only as Mohd Hassan, 60, was quoted as saying he did not suspect that his wife's elusiveness and excuses to go to work over the weekends and public holidays was due to that reason.
He added that her dark secret was revealed only a year after she decided to stop working.
He said that when she quit, she had claimed that she wanted to look after her mother's house in Pasir Mas, Kelantan while her mother was on her pilgrimage.
Not convinced with her excuse, he kept pressuring her to tell him the truth and she finally revealed the secret to him and her mother.
He said his wife was allegedly raped for the first time at a location near his house when one of the enforcement officers offered to send her home.
The enforcement officer allegedly forced her to give in to his demands and threatened to hurt or dismiss her if she declined.
He also "promoted" her to two other enforcement officers, who also allegedly raped her including in the car, office storeroom, staircase and toilet.
Mohd Hassan lodged a police report at Pasir Mas police station last March.

INTERVIEW-MALAYSIA NEWBORN BABY FOUND NEAR ISTANA BUDAYA

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 4 (Bernama) -- A newborn baby boy who was wrapped in white cloth was found inside a black bag by the roadside near Istana Budaya, Tasik Titiwangsa, here today.
Sentul police chief ACP Zakaria Pagan said a Pos Malaysia auxiliary policeman in the area was informed of the find by a member of the public at 1pm.
"The civilian found the baby, still alive, in a black bag while passing through the area. He later informed an auxiliary policeman," he said when contacted by Bernama here.
The one kilogramme baby was then sent to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital for treatment.
"Initial checks by hospital staff revealed that the baby was born prematurely and was estimated to be about six or seven months old. The baby is in stable condition and we will immediately investigate who was responsible for dumping the newborn," said Zakaria.
Those with information on the incident are urged to go to the nearest police station or contact the Sentul Police Headquarters at 03-40422222.

INTERVIEW-MALAYSIA INFORMATION MINISTER

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INTERVIEW -MALAYSIA ANWAR IBRAHIM

Anwar, 62, was this Southeast Asian country's deputy premier and prime minister-in-waiting until 1998, when he was ousted from government, accused of corruption and sodomy and eventually jailed at the height of the Asian economic crisis.
In an interview with Reuters on Tuesday, Anwar said the ongoing row over whether Christians can use the word "Allah", in which 11 churches and other religious buildings have been attacked, had hurt "the credibility of the government".
Anwar was released from prison in 2004 after the top court overturned his sodomy conviction, and went on to build up his three-party People's Alliance coalition.
In 2008, the Alliance won its best ever haul in national and state elections, winning more than a third of parliamentary seats and ending up in charge of five of Malaysia's 13 states as ethnic Chinese and Indian voters deserted the government in droves.
"We are more confident now as compared to 2008, primarily because the government, through their own dubious manner, have managed to alienate Chinese and Indians further," Anwar told Reuters.
A conviction in his upcoming trial could end Anwar's political career, with the offence carrying a maximum 20-year jail sentence. Sodomy, even between consenting adults, is a criminal offense in Malaysia.
Anwar's trial, which he claims is a political conspiracy against him, could raise political tensions at a time when Prime Minister Najib Razak has pledged to boost sagging foreign investment in the country.
Foreign investors withdrew $35 billion between the second quarter of 2008 and the second quarter of 2009 .
Foreign ownership of Malaysia's stock market stood at 20.8 percent at the end of 2009, according to data from stock exchange operator Bursa Malaysia, less than the 21 percent in March before Najib took over the leadership of the National Front coalition.

COMBUSTIBLE FAULT LINES
Najib took power in April last year vowing economic and political reforms to win back voter support, including by minorities complaining of increased marginalisation.
But the row over the use of "Allah", which stems from a Catholic newspaper's successful legal bid to use the word to describe the Christian God, has exposed combustible political and ethnic fault lines.
Christians, including Malay-speaking ones in the Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak who have traditionally used the word Allah for God, account for 9.1 percent of the 28 million population.

INTERVIEW -MALAYSIA IL DIVO