Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu has welcomed the appointment of former inspector-general of police Abdul Rahim Noor as the southern Thailand peace process facilitator.
According to him, Rahim (photo, above) possessed wide experience with regard to the area.
“Rahim was the person during (Prime Minister Dr) Mahathir's time to negotiate with the communists in Hatyai and succeeded in inking a peace treaty in 1989.
“So I think he has the knowledge and I am certain the prime minister viewed it from the angle of capabilities and therefore entrusted him with the task,” he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur today.
Commenting on PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah's objection to the appointment, the minister, who is better known as Mat Sabu, described this as a personal view.
“This is her view. We are a democratic nation, so we are free to give our respective views,” he added.
Yesterday, Nurul had called the former top police officer a "brutal assaulter of an innocent man" in reference to him assaulting her father Anwar Ibrahim in 1998.
Bersatu strategist Rais Husin also agreed with her while former Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin described the appointment as a “black eye” for Malaysia.
Following this, former minister Zainuddin Maidin defended Rahim, praising the latter's contribution to the nation as a police officer.
Rahim, on the other hand, said Nurul's response was expected but stressed that the “past is past”.
The former police chief told Malaysiakini that he was chosen for the peace facilitator role based on his experience.
“What happened at that time was the past (black eye incident).
"In my opinion, it was irrelevant for her (Nurul Izzah Anwar) to link my appointment with what had happened then, unless the decision to appoint me as the peace process facilitator was objected by Thai authorities or the Mara Pattani group,” he added. -Mkini
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