'Why wait four years to drop this bombshell?'

By Rahmah Ghazali - Free Malaysia Today

KUALA LUMPUR: DAP veteran Karpal Singh today asked why Zulkifli Noordin waited four years to drop a 'bombshell' that he was offered a hefty reward to implicate the prime minister and his wife in the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu.

He also challenged the politician to reveal the name of the alleged 'third party' who made him the offer.

"I challenge Kulim Bandar-Baru to reveal who this third force is and who is the person who instructed him to make the statutory declaration (to link Najib and Rosmah to the crime).

"I also challenge him to lodge a police report about the third force and if it turns out to be a lie, he could be charged for defamation," he told the Dewan Rakyat.

The Bukit Gelugor MP also pointed out that the Altantuya murder trial commenced four years ago.

“So what took him four years to reveal this?” he asked, adding that Zulkifli, who was recently sacked from PKR, has now transformed into a “traitor”.

Zulkifli, a lawyer-turned-politician, was representing one of the accused, police officer Azilah Hadri in the case. The MP said he rejected the offer and subsequently withdrew as Azilah's lawyer.

"The reward offered to me was a threat to my faith as a Muslim. So I withdrew from the case because there was a third force (involved)," he had told the House.

Zulkifli also mentioned that Najib Tun Razak's move to swear on the Quran that he had nothing to do with the case, was good enough for him.

Najib became embroiled in the matter when his close friend, analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, was charged with abetting two police special force officers in committing the murder.

Abdul Razak has since been acquitted, but the case continues to haunt Najib on the political front and has severely dented his reputation.

The prime minister has repeatedly denied having any links with the muder, which made international news.

Meanwhile, Karpal also lashed out at the 'frogs' who have quit PKR – Bayan Baru MP Zahrain Mohamed Hashim, Tan Tee Beng (Nibong Tebal) and Mohsin Fadhli Samsuri (Bagan Serai).

"It is better for all these four (including Zulkifli) ekor to accept my challenge and resign,” he said, questioning if Zahrain was deserving of the 'Datuk Seri' title which was recommended by the DAP-led Penang state government.