Various media reports indicate that Muslim Brotherhood figure and Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was detained by Malaysian authorities on Tuesday at the Kuala Lumpur airport in what was described as a government crackdown on its opponents who have organized a series of recent street demonstrations. A recent post described the leading role played by Ibrahim in the protests, described as Malaysia’s biggest anti-government protest in a decade. According to the latest report, Ibrahim explained what happened:
..he was held for an hour on his return from a trip to Turkey and told he was on a “suspect list”. “Under the guise of preserving public safety, in the last three days the authorities have increased their repressive tactics against Malaysian citizens and arrested key Opposition figures and civil rights leaders,” he said. “These repressive tactics are a sign that Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi’s leadership of Malaysia has run its course.”
The report quoted Malaysian officials as confirming that the arrest was linked to the various protests in which he has been involved. Ibrahim has many ties to the global U.S Muslim Brotherhood include helping to found the International Institute of Islamic Thought where he currently serves as a director, representing Asian youth and serving as a trustee for the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) during the 1970’s and early 1980’s, and appearances at numerous Brotherhood-linked conferences.