Shabery: Anwar petition first step to US meddling 
MalaysiaKini.com
Mar 11, 2015     

Ahmad Shabery Cheek is not convinced by the US embassy's reasoning that the White House mistakenly removed a pro-Anwar Ibrahim petition from its website.

The communications and multimedia minister said it is impossible for a nation which claimed to possess sophisticated information technology (IT) systems to make such an error.

He warned the petition could lead to US intervention and compared the situation to Afghanistan and Iraq.

"It's a big joke which has shamed this superpower with great IT capabilities," he said.

"Are they actually spinning the same tale which they used to justify intervening in conflicts in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and elsewhere?" he asked on his Facebook page.

The petition started by former US ambassador to Malaysia John Malott called for the Obama administration to make Anwar's release from prison a top priority of US foreign policy.

Shabery said with the petition, the US could argue that it is intervening on the request of Malaysian citizens.

He said the petitioners failed to realise that US intervention in many states only brought destruction and not the promised democratisation.

"If this happens, Malaysia will not be the same. If it does, don't blame the superpower but the turncoats who invited a giant into our lawn," he said.

The minister did not touch on the fact that Umno hardliners and right-wing movements have always accused Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak of pandering to the US.

During his visit to Malaysia last year, President Barack Obama did not meet with Anwar.
 
Fraud complaint

Earlier today the US embassy explained that the White House took down Malott's petition because there were complaints of fraud.

However, the complaints were actually against a counter-petition which urged the US not to intervene in the Malaysian judiciary.

When the counter-petition was restored, some 60,000 signatures deemed fraudulent were removed, leaving it with only some 12,000 signatures.

More than 100,000 people have signed Malott's (left) petition, the minimum number of signatories required to warrant a reply from the US president.

Responding to claims of intervention, Malott said: "That is nonsense."

"I and all the people who are signing this petition are American citizens, speaking to our president. We are not writing to the Malaysian prime minister," he added. 

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