No meeting with Anwar but US still concerned about human rights, says paper

United States President Barack Obama’s decision not to meet with opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (pic) does not indicate a lack of concern for the human-rights situation in Malaysia, reports the Wall Street Journal yesterday.

"The fact that I haven't met with Mr Anwar in and of itself isn't indicative of our lack of concern, given the fact that there are a lot of people I don't meet with and opposition leaders that I don't meet with," said Obama in a news conference quoted by WSJ.

"And that doesn't mean that I'm not concerned about them."

Obama said although he would not meet with Anwar, human rights were on the agenda during yesterday's meetings with Malaysian officials and that he had made American values clear.

In an earlier report from AFP, Anwar had said that a meeting with Obama would have been "consistent with US democratic ideals".

However, the opposition leader instead met with US National Security Adviser Susan Rice.

According to the WSJ, the US administration had not offered a reason for declining a meeting with Anwar, saying only that the president's schedule in Malaysia was "packed".

Anwar is appealing a conviction for sodomy in a case that he maintains was politically motivated.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the sodomy case against Anwar was a legal matter and that Putrajaya did not interfere in it.