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Najib Lashes Out At Accusations Of ‘The Mongolian Woman’ (Malaysiakini)

Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Najib Razak today blasted those who ‘concocted’ stories to implicate him in various corruption allegations as well as the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu.

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Najib said the accusations - particularly in relation to the alleged payment of RM530 million to a private consultant - were part of the opposition parties’ “concerted and continuous effort” to confuse the public.

“The issue of commissions was clearly created, manipulated and purposefully misrepresented by the opposition to the point they do not care of the negative effects on the image of the Malaysian armed forces and national security,” he in his winding-up speech on the royal address in Parliament.
“It was done in order to inflame the emotions of people and not to uphold the truth,” he added.

Najib, whose wife Rosmah Mansor was present in the Visitors Gallery, was replying to Parliamentary Opposition Leader Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (PKR-Permatang Pauh).

Wan Azizah had called for a commission of inquiry into the government’s 2002-2003 purchase of two French-made Scorpene submarines and 18 Russian-made Sukhoi fighter jets.

It has been claimed that the RM4.5 billion purchase of the submarines was accompanied by a RM530 million commission to Perimaker Sdn Bhd, which has been linked to a close associate of Najib, political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda who has been charged with abetting in the murder of Altantuya.

The RM3.2 billion purchase of the Sukhoi jets, on the other hand, was alleged to have been made with a RM380 million commission paid to IMT Defence (M) Sdn Bhd - a company allegedly owned by former Malacca chief minister Adib Adam.

Payment to agent not commission

Reiterating a statement that he had made earlier over the issue, Najib denied any payment was made to IMT Defence over the Sukhoi jets deal, adding that the company is the sole representative of Russian company Rosoboronexport in Malaysia with which the Defence Ministry negotiated directly to secure the deal.Najib also reiterated that the payment to Perimaker was not a commission but payment for being the ‘project services provider’ and coordinator for a period of six months.The government “did not and has never paid any commission - either directly or indirectly” to Perimaker - which he said is owned by the Armed Forces Fund Board (LTAT), Boustead Holdings Bhd and KS Ombak Laut Sdn Bhd.Responding to Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur) who had asked whether he would set up a independent commission of inquiry to clear his name of the allegations, Najib said there was no need for such a move as there sufficient agencies to investigate any wrongdoing on his part, if any.On the issue of Altantuya, - whom he did not mention by name but only referred as ‘the Mongolian woman’ - Najib described as fitnah (slander) efforts to connect him to her murder.“Thank God, I have until now withstood all kinds of accusations and slander that have been cast against me with the intention of sullying my name,” he said.

“In view that the (court) case is on-going, and out of respect for the institution of the court hearing the trial, it is best that I do not make any comment.

“As a responsible citizen and for the sake of upholding justice and truth, I wish to assert here what I have said many times before that I have never met the said woman referred to in the case.

“Because of this, please allow the court to serve its role and responsibility in upholding justice in this country without any disturbances from any quarters.

“At the same time, I pray that this case be tried in the best way possible and that the truth will come out for the sake of the supremacy of the laws that we all uphold.”

NS ‘well-received’, will not be scrappedOn the contract to PSC-Naval Dockyard to build 27 patrol boats for the Royal Malaysian Navy, Najib said the initial value of six boats that were to have been built by April 2007 had gone up by RM1.4 billion from RM5.35 billion to RM6.75 billion.He also said that as PSC-Naval Dockyard could not fulfill the conditions of the contract and had completed only two patrol boats by the end of 2006, the government was forced to give the task to LTAT.Najib disclosed further that upon LTAT’s appeal, the government had agreed to exempt it from any penalties as such penalties if imposed would not be fitting in view of the company’s effort to complete the construction of the six vessels.On the National Service programme, Najib said the government will not scrap the programme just because 16 trainees died since it was launched four years ago.He said these casualties represented 0.004 percent of the 339,186 trainees who have gone through the programme since 2004.“Out of the figure, 11 trainees died in the camps, while five died outside the camps. Of the deaths reported in the camps, seven were due to illnesses and four due to accidents.”The latest death involved an 18-year old girl in Perak last week after she complained of constipation