Rejecting offers of asylum, Anwar vows to stay and fight

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, in a whirlwind nationwide tour before a verdict next week which many expect would send him back to jail, declared last night that leaving the country was the last thing on his mind, and that he would stay to fight vile accusations against him.

“I, my wife and our children will never ever leave this country even when faced with such humiliations," Anwar told tens of thousands of people who turned up for his speech in Machang, Kelantan .

Also present were PAS elections diretor Dr Hatta Ramli, PKR secretary general and Machang MP Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, DAP deputy chairman Tan Seng Giaw, Kelantan speaker Nasuruddin Daud and other state PAS and PKR leaders.

Anwar said he had discussed with his family about his future.

"They worry about my safety if I were to be jailed again," said Anwar, who was assaulted under custody by then police inspector general Abdul Rahim Noor in 1998, hours after leading the September 20 rally which saw hundreds of thousands flooding Kuala Lumpur streets calling for then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's resignation.

“If I ran away, others will be targeted. I have explained to friends overseas, that the people are not angry at me, but angry at corrupt and unjust leaders," he said, on why he refused offers to seek refuge outside the country.

Anwar revealed that such offers had been made by several Arab countries, as well as Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Anwar said Erdoğan appeared to understand Anwar's stand, as the Islamist leader had also been jailed before his party emerged victorious in the elections.

-Harakahdaily