Republican rep advises Clinton to avoid Anwar ... but she won't

Malaysia Chronicle

With two days to go before U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's arrival on Monday, the Umno-controlled media is starting to crank up in earnest all manner of dissuasion against her meeting Pakatan Rakyat leaders Anwar Ibrahim, Lim Kit Siang and Hadi Awang.

And even though Minister in the PM's Department Nazri Aziz might publicly say he has no objection to her meeting them, that's certainly not how Najib or Umno really feels.

Any U.S. acknowledgment of the existence of the Pakatan would be a tremendous blow to the Malaysian ruling coalition. Its message should be taken very seriously by Najib and his Umno-BN.

Welcomed and cheered

At the same, it should be welcomed and cheered by all Malaysians, especially given Najib's recent warning that he will defend Putrajaya at all costs - even if bodies are crushed and lives are lost.

Although, there is no official appointment in Clinton's calendar to formally meet the Pakatan trio, high-level sources tell Malaysia Chronicle that they are likely to be invited to a social function or a meeting that will also be attended by civil society groups.

The Obama administration has said it is keen to show support for democracy and civil society in its foreign policy.

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Malaysia Chronicle appends below the NST article quoting Chuck DeVore, who has been previously accused by Anwar's supporters of being close to APCO, Najib's controversial PR consultant.

KUALA LUMPUR - United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been advised not to meet opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim during her visit here next week.

California State Assembly member Chuck DeVore said Clinton should not meet the opposition leader as Malaysia was not Myanmar and Anwar was not Aung San Suu Kyi.

In his commentary, "Secretary of State Clinton Should Steer Clear of Malaysia's Anwar Ibrahim", posted on the Big Peace news portal on Tuesday, DeVore said: "There's no denying that Anwar Ibrahim knows how to manipulate Western press and politicians.

"He has fashioned himself as a sympathetic profile in the West by leveraging the sodomy charges levelled against him while claiming to be two things he isn't ... a government reformer and a moderate Muslim."

According to the member of the Republican Party, DeVore claimed that Anwar's passion for government reform was suspect from the start.

He claimed that when Anwar was in New York recently, shadowing Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's visit, Anwar had met leaders from the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT). Anwar was a co-founder of IIIT.

DeVore claimed IIIT was a Muslim Brotherhood front that had been linked to terrorist financing.

He also said Anwar was "simply one in a long line of Islamist leaders" who knew how to say one thing to a Western audience while saying and acting differently when they think no one from the West was paying attention. - NST