Keadilan president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said today that it was slanderous for an Australian report to suggest that her husband Anwar Ibrahim leader had supported terrorist activities in his former role as director of a Washington-based Islamic Institute.

Australia's Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) in a report on Thursday, said that Anwar had at one time sat on the board of Washington-based International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), "a body accused of funding Islamic Jihad".

Wan Azizah said they are "very concerned" over the suggestion by the Australian media, especially since the IIIT is able to cite a number of well-respected clerics and academics among its midst - all of whom have stated clearly their position against terrorism.

As such, the report can only be viewed as intending malice against Anwar and their family, said Wan Azizah.

She added that her family will be consulting Anwar and his lawyers over the "slanderous report" tomorrow, in their visit to the Sungei Buloh prison. Anwar is currently serving a nine-year jail sentence for sodomy.

Respected clerics

Among IIIT's 'respected' founders, said Wan Azizah, was the late Ismail Faruqi, a professor at Temple University in the US, and is among the best known Islamic academics in the world.

"His work has been referenced by numerous world leaders."

Religious leader and IIIT founder Sheikh Taha Jabir, said Wan Azizah, was also founder of the Centre for the Studies of Islam and Democracy with thousands of offices throughout the US.

As well, former rector of the International Islamic University Dr Abdul Hamid Sulaiman has been recognised for his work in spreading progressive, peaceful and moderate Islam.

"Even US authorities have done their own investigation into IIIT, as they have done to other Islamic organisations after the Sept 11 attacks, and found no evidence linking IIIT with terrorism."