Malaysia Probes Claim Najib's Wife Was at Mongolian Murder Spot

Malaysia Probes Claim Najib's Wife Was at Mongolian Murder Spot

By Manirajan Ramasamy and Angus Whitley

June 25 (Bloomberg) -- Malaysian police are investigating a claim that the deputy premier's wife was at the 2006 murder scene near Kuala Lumpur where a Mongolian interpreter was allegedly blown apart.

Rosmah Mansor, wife of Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, witnessed in October 2006 the placing of plastic explosives on Altantuya Shaariibuu's body, Malaysian blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin said in a June 18 statutory declaration at the Kuala Lumpur High Court. Najib today denied the allegations.

``Everything that is written is total lies and fabricated and total garbage,'' he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur. ``It's a desperate and pathetic attempt to discredit me and my political image. We have recorded our statement. My wife has recorded her statement with the police.''

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said yesterday he has been informed by the Attorney General's office that they will conduct an investigation into Raja Petra's declaration. The trial, now in its second year, has captured attention because one of the accused killers had worked for Najib, to whom Abdullah has promised to hand power.

Malaysia's Inspector General of Police, Musa Hassan, didn't reply to a message left on his mobile phone seeking comment or pick up repeated calls to his office today.

According to criminal charges in a trial that began in June 2007, political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, then 47, was charged with abetting Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar on Oct. 18, 2006, in the murder of Altantuya, 28. All three face the death penalty if convicted.

Blackmail Claim

Abdul Razak, head of the Kuala Lumpur-based Malaysian Strategic Research Center, pleaded not guilty to the charge and has said in an affidavit that Altantuya had been blackmailing him over their relationship. Abdul Razak had carried out work for Najib, who is also the country's defense minister.

In an affidavit on Jan. 4, 2007, Abdul Razak said he met Altantuya in locations including France, Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai, and her requests for financial help turned to blackmail. He asked for police patrols at home when Altantuya traveled to Malaysia to see him, according to his statement.

The victim, raised in St. Petersburg and educated in Beijing, was fluent in Russian, English, Chinese and Japanese, according to a civil suit filed by her family against the Malaysian government on June 6 last year.

Najib, in an interview at his office on June 19, 2007, said it was ``morally wrong'' and ``unethical'' to make any connection between him and the murder of the woman.

The deputy premier is scheduled to take over from Abdullah under a transition plan mapped out after an election on March 8 this year, when the opposition made record gains in Parliament. Abdullah said in April he'll discuss handing over to his deputy after party elections in December.