Anwar held after anti-govt rally

KUALA LUMPUR, September 20: Malaysian police arrested sacked finance minister Anwar Ibrahim today, hours after he led thousands of angry demonstrators through the streets of the capital calling on Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to resign.

Armed police led Anwar from his suburban home to a white police van as about 2,000 supporters shouted “reformasi” (reform) and “long live Anwar”. About 100 riot police with shields and batons surrounded the van before it drove away with Anwar inside. Anwar’s lawyer Christopher Fernando told reporters inside Anwar’s house that the former Cabinet minister was being taken to federal police headquarters in Kuala Lumpur to be indicted for sexual indecency. Anwar’s adopted brother and a former speechwriter pleaded guilty in court yesterday to being sodomised by Anwar. Sodomy is a crime in Malaysia. Mahathir sacked Anwar as deputy prime minister and finance minister on September 2, calling him morally unfit.

Anwar is under investigation for sodomy, treason,corruption and other crimes which he has denied, saying he was the victim of a conspiracy to end his political career. Earlier, Anwar led an anti-government rally of tens of thousands of people, who took over a central Kuala Lumpur square just after Queen Elizabeth-II had left.

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Witnesses said some 40,000 to 50,000 people packed Merdeka (freedom) square in the centre of the Malaysian capital to back Anwar’s calls for reforms and for Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to stand down.

The British monarch arrived for a four-day state visit today and the political tension is mounting as she prepares to close the 70-nation Commonwealth Games tomorrow.