Malaysia Notes

KUALA LUMPUR, July 9, 2008 (AFP) - A private investigator who went missing after linking Malaysia's deputy premier to a murdered Mongolian woman has been traced to an unnamed location in Southeast Asia, police said Wednesday.

Criminal Investigation Department director Bakri Zinin said Balasubramaniam Perumal and his family had left Malaysia on their own accord after the investigator last week made the claims and then swiftly retracted them.

"Through our close cooperation with our conterparts in Aseanapol and Interpol, we managed to locate him," Bakri told AFP.

"But I will not reveal his whereabouts as it will jeopardise our ongoing investigations on his sworn statements," he said.

"I cannot say if he is safe but he gave us the impression that he was safe and sound. According to the information we have, he left on his own accord."

Bakri did not say if Balasubramaniam will be brought back to Kuala Lumpur to help with the investigation into his statements, which have deepened a political crisis in Malaysia.

"We are looking into all angles of legality, if we intend to bring him back. He is a free person and he is free to travel, we are just doing an investigation on the statements he made for now," he said.

Balasubramaniam's claims are linked to a political brawl between opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, which could decide who is the next leader of Malaysia.

At a press conference organised by Anwar, Balasubramaniam released a sworn statement accusing Najib of having an affair with 28-year-old model Altantuya Shaariibuu.

She was murdered in 2006 and her body blown up with explosives in a remote forest.

Najib's close friend, who had hired Balasubramaniam in the days leading up to the woman's death, is on trial for abetting the murder.

The deputy premier angrily denied the allegations, saying he had never even met Altantuya. In the next surprise development the investigator then withdrew the accusations, which he said had been made under duress, and disappeared.

Balasubramaniam's nephew, who reported him missing, said his uncle had contacted him late Monday to say he and his family were safe.

"When I repeatedly asked them where they were, my uncle told me that they could not talk freely and ended the call," R. Kumaresan said according to The Star daily.