Former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim today sent a legal letter to his ex-boss Dr Mahathir Mohamad demanding an apology and RM100 million in compensation for calling him a 'sodomist'.

The letter, among others, claimed that Mahathir made the statement for cheap publicity. It was served on the former premier's solicitor Messrs VK Lingam's office this afternoon.

The letter, issued by Anwar's solicitor Messrs S N Nair & Partners, stated that Mahathir made the slanderous statement during a press conference at the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) premises on Sept 9, 2005.

Mahathir was alleged to have said, "I cannot have a sodomiser in my cabinet" and "imagine a gay PM...nobody will be safe" when asked to comment on his decision to sack Anwar in 1998.

Cheap publicity

Anwar contended that Mahathir was "grossly negligent, reckless, irresponsible, deliberate and malicious" when uttering the remarks.

He said the remarks were aimed to discredit his character and "expose him to public hatred, scorn, odium, contempt and ridicule".

"Your (Mahathir) utterance as stated above of our client portraying him as gay is wholly untrue, false, frivolous, vexatious and devoid of substance," read the letter.

"Your utterances as stated above of our client are motivated by mala fide (bad faith), distortion of facts suggesting moral impropriety ...and principally done in your pursuit of seeking cheap publicity and sensationalism," it added.

Apart from damaging Anwar's reputation, it claimed that the remarks also subjected his family to 'substantial loss' and mental anguish following the media coverage on the matter.
The demands made in the letter were:

- A full and unqualified apology in writing which is to be published in all major newspapers and the electronic media.

- A sum of RM1,000 for the cost of issuing the demand letter.

- A sum of RM100 million as compensation for damages and injuries caused .

Defamation suit

Anwar's lawyer Sankara Nair, who served the document, said Mahathir had 14 days to respond to the demands, failing which, a defamation suit will be filed with the Kuala Lumpur High Court.

"We will wait until then to see if Mahathir would heed to the demands. If he fails, we will not hesitate to file the defamation suit," he said when met at Putrajaya.

Sankara (right) had gone to the administrative capital to serve the letter personally to Mahathir, but was told that the latter had engaged the services of lawyer VK Lingam.

Asked if the demand letter inferred that Anwar was not gay, Sankara replied: "We are not only inferring that he is not gay, we are stating for a fact that he is not gay."

On Tuesday, Anwar announced his intention to sue Mahathir and that he was shocked with the remarks since the court had absolved him from such a charge.

He claimed that Mahathir continued to spread such lies to 'divert attention from his misguided policies and deflect criticism over his corruption and human right abuses'.

If filed, the defamation suit will be Anwar's second against Mahathir.

In 1998, Anwar had filed a similar suit against Mahathir for slandering him in a news conference where he described the alleged acts of sodomy.

A year later, the Kuala Lumpur High Court dismissed the suit, ruling that it was a frivolous abuse of the legal process.

Anwar had been initially convicted of sodomy but this was overturned by the Federal Court last year following an appeal.