Cracks start to appear in Umno over sex video: Is it or isn't it Anwar?

Cracks start to appear in Umno over sex video: Is it or isn't it Anwar?Simmering unhappiness within Umno over a sex video that the party's top leadership was trying to hang onto Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim has found its way out into the open.

A young Umno religious leader advised party members not to humiliate Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim concrete proof.

"We are supposed to end a human being's humiliation, not spread it," Fathul Bari of the Umno Young Ulama Secretariat said at a conference.

But to save the day for the Umno elite, information chied Ahmad Maslan rushed out to insist that the man filmed having sex with a prostitute was really Anwar.

"I have seen the video and admit that Anwar Ibrahim is in the video. Yes, I watched it with my wife,” said Ahmad, who was also at the same conference.

No conspiracy whatsoever

The video had mysteriously and suddenly cropped up in late March and was screened to a group of journalists by 3 men who called themselves the Datuk T tro. All three are Umno members with links to Prime Minister Najib Razak and former premier Mahathir Mohamad.

The manner and timing of the release of the tape sparked immediate speculation of a top level conspiracy to discredit Anwar. The refusal of the police to arrest and charge the trio although they had confessed to screening the tape also boosted this theory.

It is a crime punishable by up to 5 years in jail to possess and publicly display pornographic material.

But Ahmad, who is also deputy minister in the PM's department, refuted such talk.

"There is no conspiracy here. What has been said by Eskay is true and those who have watched the video admit that it is true," Maslan said.

The Datuk T trio are businessman Shazryl Eskay Abdullah, former Malacca chief minister Rahim Thamby Chik and Perkasa treasurer Shuaib Lazim.

Anwar has denied being involved in the tape. Close-ups from segments of the 21-minute long video leaked into YouTube have shown a much bulkier man than Anwar cavorting with the sex worker.

Malaysia Chronicle

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