Bomb squad uncovers 'charm' under Pak Lah's desk

As the clock ticks down for the transition of power, the tension in Umno appears to have taken a supernatural twist.

A police bomb squad, which conducted a routine sweep of the Umno headquarters in Kuala Lumpur a few days ago, stumbled upon suspicious items under the party president Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's table.

The check was conducted on the meeting room located on the 39th floor of the Putra World Trade Centre in view of the coming Umno supreme council meeting, which will be the last to be held before the party polls which is slated to kick off on March 24.

According to a report in Sin Chew Daily today, bomb squad personnel found two tiny pieces of paper with Jawi inscriptions as well as a piece of wood wrapped in a white piece of paper.

"The pieces of paper were so small that it could be hidden in the mouth and this is an highly suspicious act," read the front-page report.

So far, the police have not detained anyone in connection with the case but have recorded statements from three individuals who have access to the room, including two police personnel.

The third person is said to be the assistant of a politician, who was not named.

The meeting room is not equipped with a close circuit television camera. Apart from politicians, only cleaning personnel have access to the room.

The report further stated that the police were unable to decipher the contents in the paper and have referred the materials to the chemistry department for further investigation.

Dang Wangi district police chief Zulkarnain Abdul Rahman confirmed the matter but declined to elaborate.

Anwar: Why not under Najib's desk?

Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim raised the issue in the Dewan Rakyat this afternoon and questioned why the items were found under Abdullah's desk and not that of his deputy Najib Abdul Razak or other leaders.

Quoting the Sin Chew report, he said: "The police found two papers written in Jawi which the police themselves could not understand and have sent them for laboratory tests."


"Why would they want to send it to the chemistry department, they should send it to Jawi (Islamic affairs department)," he quipped.

At this point, Mohamad Aziz (Sri Gading-BN) interjected and asked Anwar if he could trust the Chinese daily's report.

The opposition leader replied: "This (the report) is based on the police, it is the Chinese paper which is brave enough to report this, Utusan (Malaysia) is not brave enough to do so."

Describing it as a shameful episode, he said: "This is a reflection of disgusting politics where even a bomoh can creep into the Umno meeting room and put things under the president's table."

Mohamad Aziz then asked Anwar if he believes in such superstitous practices.

"It is because that I don't believe, I have raised this issue. I want to know how this superstition managed to breach the tight security and slip into the room. It is a security matter," he said.

"If there is no help from the top leaders, outsiders will not have access to the place," Anwar added.

Malaysiakini
19/03/09

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