I never met or knew Altantuya, Najib tells Parliament - The Star

By Elizabeth Looi

KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak reiterated in Parliament Wednesday that he had never met nor knew murdered Mongolian woman Altantuya Shaariibuu.

He said he did not want to make any further comments on the matter as the hearing of the case was still going on.

"I know that some of the Dewan Rakyat members are concerned about the court case of the murder of the Mongolian woman, and I also know that there are some members who deliberately tried to link my name to the case,"

"Let the court play its role and carry out its responsibility to uphold justice in this country without any party interfering," he said

The Deputy Prime Minister, who is also Defence Minister said the Government had never paid anyone commission for the procurement of two Scorpene submarines and 18 Sukhoi fighter jets.

He said both projects involved only direct negotiations between Malaysian firms and the countries that sold the submarines and the fighter planes.

[More at http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/5/14/nation/20080514195803&sec=nation]

Malaysia better than 76% of countries, says PM - The Star

By Sim Leoi Leoi

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is better than 76% of the countries in the list surveyed for the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi told Lim Kit Siang (DAP - Ipoh Timur) that whether a country improved or declined in the index should not be determined alone from its yearly ranking.

"This is because the number of countries taking part in the index differs from year to year. In 1995, 41 countries took part while in 2006, the number grew to 163. Last year, there were 179 countries.

"A more accurate indicator to show the trend of a country's performance in the index is the country’s score. Malaysia's score since 1995 has been averaging at five points, a good and stable level," he said in a written reply on Monday.

Lim had asked if the Government would set up a royal commission to determine the reasons behind Malaysia's fall from 23rd place on the index to 43rd last year.

Abdullah said if one should analyse the index closely, Malaysia had actually improved in its performance in the fight against corruption.

[More at http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/5/14/nation/20080514162319&sec=nation]

Hindraf Leaders To Remain Under ISA Detention - Bernama

PUTRAJAYA, May 14 (Bernama) -- The five Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leaders will continue to remain behind bars at the Kamunting detention centre in Taiping, Perak.

This follows the Federal Court ruling today that their detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA) is lawful.

A three-man panel led by Chief Judge of Malaya, Datuk Alauddin Mohd Sheriff ruled that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, in his capacity as the Internal Security Minister then, had rightly issued the two-year detention order and complied with the procedural requirements under the act.

The Hindraf leaders are lawyers M. Manoharan, 46, who is also the MP for Kota Alam Shah, P. Uthayakumar, 46, V. Ganabatirau, 40, R. Kenghadharan, 40, and former bank officer K. Vasantha Kumar, 36.

The five men were detained last Dec 13 for their involvement in organising a street protest in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 25, and for making inflammatory remarks against the government.

They appealed to the Federal Court after they failed to secure an order from the High Court for their release from what they claimed as unlawful detention.

[More at http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news.php?id=332917]

Loh: A lot more to Lingam clip - The Star

By Loong Meng Yee

KUALA LUMPUR: The VK Lingam video clip shown to the Royal Commission of Inquiry is only some 20% to 30% of what was recorded that night at the prominent lawyer’s house in December 2001.

Somewhere in China, there is a disk containing the complete recording of what Loh Gwo Burne videotaped, separated into segments named VK1, VK2 and others. Most of what was made public was from the first segment of VK1.

“I downloaded the video from my private computer into several hard disks and compact discs. When I went to work in China in 2004, I took it along,” Loh told The Star.

“The disk is still there. The rest of the videos contain, among other things, other telephone conversations between Lingam and the other person on the phone, as well as conversations Lingam had with my father.

“What has been made public is only about 20%-30% of what I filmed,” Loh said.

[More at http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/5/14/nation/21240628&sec=nation]

Karpal is not arrested, police urge public to ignore rumours - The Star

PENANG: The public has been urged to disregard rumours that Bukit Gelugor MP Karpal Singh has been arrested.

Federal CID director Commissioner Datuk Bakri Zinin said the police are still investigating reports lodged against Karpal Singh over alleged seditious remarks made by him against the Sultan of Perak.

“There is no such thing (Karpal Singh arrested). Do not believe such rumours. Our investigations are still ongoing,” he said.

Meanwhile, George Town OCPD Asst Comm Azam Abd Hamid said Penang police had completed its investigations into the case.

He said the investigation papers were submitted to the Attorney-General’s chambers on Saturday. “It was also based on the statement recorded from Karpal Singh on the same day.

“Two police reports were made against Karpal Singh (in Penang). One of the reports was made by state Umno Youth secretary Ramlan Ishak on Friday,” he said.

[More at http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/5/14/nation/21242841&sec=nation]

Gerakan VP: Guan Eng naive, ignorant or playing politics - The Star

PENANG: Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng is naive, ignorant or merely playing politics, says Gerakan.

Its vice-president Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nan said that Lim seemed to be asking questions through the media for answers which he could easily get from his officers, reports, documents and briefings.

“I am saying he is naive because all the questions he has been asking can be easily obtained because he has access to all the information,” he told a press conference yesterday.

Dr Teng said this showed that Lim was not ready to take on responsibility as a chief minister.

“I do not know whether to call him Chief Minister or just Lim Guan Eng,” he said.

Dr Teng, who is a former state executive councillor, also hit out at Lim for asking him and former chief minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon to apologise to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for misleading the latter on the proposed RM25bil Penang Global City Centre (PGCC) project.

[More at http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/5/14/nation/21241082&sec=nation]