Political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda has broken his seven-year silence on the murder of his former Mongolian lover Altantuya Shaariibuu but some pertinent issues remain unaddressed.

In an exclusive interview with The Malaysian Insider, he cleared Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak of any involvement in the grisly killing, for which two ex-police commandos have been sentenced to death.

Among others, Abdul Razak, who was arrested but cleared of abetting the murder, said Najib was a "poor guy" who became a "victim" of the conspiracy surrounding Altantuya's murder. He also claimed that Najib never met Altantuya before.

"Najib never knew the woman. Najib is innocent. If you all think there is a connection, where is the evidence? Let's not forget that in any situation like this, there are a lot of opportunists out there. We have seen this so many times," he said in the interview.

For Abdul Razak, the reason why Najib's name was dragged into the controversy was because he was close to the former and deputy prime minister when the murder happened.

He dismissed the murder as a "straightforward" case, comparing it to deaths in custody at the hands of the police, and pinned the murder solely on Sirul and Azilah.

The two police commandos, Sirul Azhar Umar and Azilah Hadzri, were found guilty of murdering Altantuya in 2006 in Shah Alam.

"I was so frustrated because there were so many postponements to the case. So what's wrong if they (Azilah and Sirul) went on their own?

“Look at MH370, what, there was a conspiracy? Come up with the evidence. Nobody came up with the evidence. Things just happen. Bermuda Triangle. Certain things are just unexplainable. So why not this? That they just went on their own. Why not?" he asked.

However, talks about conspiracies had never died down, as the motive behind the police duo's actions had never been established until now, including the topic of the two receiving instructions from someone above.

And Abdul Razak was merely dismissive of late private eye P Balasubramaniam's first statutory declaration that Najib had known Altantuya personally and that the former was the one who introduced Altantuya to Abdul Razak.

"All utter rubbish. Anal sex as well. All rubbish. Everyone took the SD as the truth. Furthermore, in the SD, Balasubramaniam says: ‘someone told me’ or ‘I told him’. It's all hearsay," Abdul Razak said of the first SD.

Blackmailed

But when asked about who would be behind the "narrative" to implicate Najib, Abdul Razak said it could be a "dracula, vampire, or werewolf".

He claimed that Altantuya, his jilted ex-lover, was blackmailing him for a sum of $5,000 and $8,000 and not $500,000 as claimed in Bala's first SD.

The SMS exchanges between Najib and Abdul Razak that suggested interference in case was also not addressed.

According to Balasubramaniam in his SD, “Abdul Razak Baginda received an SMS from Najib Razak and showed, this message to both myself and his lawyer. This message read as follows: ‘I am seeing IGP at 11am today ...  matter will be solved ... be cool’.”

Instead, Abdul Razak claimed the entire court process in clearing him was "transparent" and that everyone were allowed to present their own arguments.

Abdul Razak also denied that Altantuya was an interpreter for the government in negotiating with French parties regarding the French submarine Scorpene deal, claiming she "can't even speak French".

"Trace and see if she can speak a word of French. None of the French guys in the submarine deal met her or knew her. The French were so sophisticated. They all speak perfect English. Nobody questioned. Why would you want a Mongolian French interpreter?" he asked.