By Manirajan Ramasamy and Angus Whitley
July 16 (Bloomberg) -- Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was arrested following accusations he had sex with a male aide, 10 years after he was jailed for a similar charge that was later quashed. Stocks and the ringgit extended declines.
Anwar, 60, was detained near his home in Kuala Lumpur by 20 masked officers, his office said. He wasn't given a reason for the arrest, according to his lawyer Sankara Nair. Police are due to hold a press conference later in the capital.
The former deputy prime minister denies the accusations and says the current case is fabricated to destroy his plan to topple Premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in two months. A decade ago, Anwar's detention triggered street riots and today's arrest will generate more popular support for his cause, analysts said.
``This will certainly increase sympathy for him,'' said Ibrahim Suffian, director of the Merdeka Center, an independent research institute near Kuala Lumpur. ``If he stays in jail and some kind of charge is introduced, we'll be resetting the clock back to 1998. This may well be the single action that tips people over to Anwar.''
The People's Justice Party, which Anwar advises, and its two allies won control of five of Malaysia's 13 states in the March 8 elections. That denied the ruling coalition, which has ruled for five decades, its two-thirds majority in Parliament.
Anwar was jailed for six years for corruption and sodomy until Malaysia's highest court overturned the sodomy conviction and released him in 2004.
Sinking Stocks
His party today called for supporters to rally calmly at the police station where the former minister was planning to give a statement. His wife, daughter and about 10 opposition lawmakers gathered at the building after the arrest, which took place shortly before 1 p.m. local time.
Investors have sold Malaysian stocks since the elections, driving down the benchmark index 23 percent this year. That's worse than the performances of the indexes in neighboring Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore.
The Kuala Lumpur Composite index extended declines after the arrest to its lowest in 16 months, losing 0.6 percent. The Malaysian ringgit was the region's worst performer today, weakening 0.2 percent to 3.2270 against the U.S. dollar.
Some money managers called on Abdullah's National Front coalition to explain today's developments.
Health Threat
``The government should address the nation,'' said Scott Lim, who helps manage the equivalent of $620 million as chief investment officer at CMS Asset Management Sdn. in Kuala Lumpur. ``Instability following the March 8 election has all been very, very negative.''
The investigation into Anwar's aide's accusation comes under a section of Malaysia's penal code listing the offence of ``carnal intercourse against the order of nature.'' That includes fellatio or anal sex with another person, the code says.
``All that the people want to know now is whether Anwar sodomized or not,'' Mukhriz Mahathir, lawmaker for the National Front coalition, said in Parliament, triggering shouts from opposition members of Parliament. He called for the DNA evidence from human tissue to be produced.
About 65 percent of Malaysians consider the allegations to be politically motivated, while 11 percent believe Anwar is guilty, according to a survey of 1,000 people conducted July 14 by the Merdeka Center, Ibrahim said.
Anwar, who was confined temporarily to a wheelchair by the police beating he received in 1998, may be in danger again, said his wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
`I Feel Apprehensive'
``I feel apprehensive because my husband is, 10 years down the road, not that well,'' she told reporters today after speaking to Anwar by phone following the arrest. ``He has a bad back, he's had surgery, and from the brief conversation, he said they were not gentle.''
Anwar has filed a defamation suit against his accuser and claims the 23-year-old former aide conspired with the government.
The manner of the arrest, one hour before Anwar had agreed to meet police, drew criticism from his party and others in the opposition alliance.
``Can't they conduct their investigations in a proper manner?'' Azmin Ali, vice president of People's Justice Party, told reporters at Parliament. ``The police should not test the patience of the citizens. Do they want a repeat of the `98 riots?''
Anwar should be immediately released since he was willing to cooperate with the investigation, Lim Guan Eng, head of the opposition Democratic Action Party, said in an e-mailed statement.
Malaysia's top policeman, Musa Hassan, didn't reply to a message left on his phone seeking an explanation for the arrest.
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