Najib's denial in question after expose' from Altantuya's dad

A claim by the father of Mongolian citizen Altantuya Shaariibuu, whose brutal murder in 2006 has been widely linked with kickbacks in the submarine deal she helped negotiate between Malaysia and France, that he had seen a photograph of the prime minister with his daughter has again generated intense interest in the murder case.

Setev Shaariibuu, speaking to reporters during his visit to Malaysia, said her daughter had shown him a picture taken in France of her together with Najib Razak and his former aide Abdul Razak Baginda, who was acquitted of the murder charge, prior to her visit to Malaysia.

According to Shaariibuu, Altantuya had pinpointed Najib, the then deputy prime minister and Defence minister, saying she wanted to come to Malaysia to meet him ove “something.”

Prior to this, Najib had denied that he knew Altantuya saying any attempt to link him with the deceased was a lie. Najib had also sworn by the Qur'an to dispel accusations that he had known Altantuya, as was claimed by a statutory declaration issued by one of the witnesses in the murder trial.

The trial concluded three years ago with the conviction of two security personnel whose faces had been carefully concealed by the police from media glare, up to the last day when they were handed out the death sentence. Questions however remain on the motive of her murder, despite a court judgement earlier this year saying that motive was not important in judging a murder case.

Central to the questions was the RM7.3 billion purchase of two French 'Scorpene' submarines. It was claimed that Altantuya's murder had to do with unpaid kickbacks owed to her. This, according to a private detective hired by Razak Baginda, was a reason why Altantuya had been hounding Razak at his office in the days leading to her brutal murder.

A French investigation into the alleged kickbacks is said to be concluding, with a trial widely expected to start in France.

Shaariibuu has stated his readiness to stand as witness in the trial.

"I will give my statement there. What is important is that I will reveal what I know at the right time,” he added.

Shaariibuu said he had advised her daughter against going to Malaysia.

“But she was firm on going,” said Shaariibuu.

“If I knew she would end up with such calamity, I would have kept the picture. Many witnesses had seen it,” said Shaariibuu, adding that he did not know at that time that the person in the picture was Najib.

During the trial in 2007, Altantuya’s cousin Burma Oyunchimeg claimed that she had seen the picture. The picture has yet to be made available in public, other than a parody posted by PKR's Batu member of parliament Tian Chua on his blog.

-Harakahdaily