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Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Musa Hassan zips lips in latest scorcher on Altantuya murder
- Deepak denies link to documents
- Pakatan plays down Allah issue
- Group demands jewellery expose probe, Rafizi wants to meet Deepak
- Dr M: Beware the one who hoodwinks
- Pakatan to decide on ‘Allah’ issue next week
- Musa: IGP, top brass avoided me
- ‘Jewellery documents are from Deepak’
- ‘Is S’gor selling assets?’
- Singapore 6th, Malaysia 36th best nation to be born in 2013, survey shows
- Taboo on premarital sex can lead to tragedy in changing Oman
| Musa Hassan zips lips in latest scorcher on Altantuya murder Posted: 02 Jan 2013 04:47 PM PST Amin Iskandar, The Malaysian Insider Tan Sri Musa Hassan has refused to be drawn into the latest controversy over the 2006 murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu, following the publication of a book claiming the former Inspector-General of Police (IGP) has inside information. The retired policeman reiterated that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was uninvolved in the explosive case that had been linked to several politicians from the ruling Barsian Nasional (BN) and had resurfaced recently in the run-up to the 13th general election. "I have nothing to comment," he told The Malaysian Insider when contacted yesterday for a response on allegations he has knowledge of the events surrounding the death of the Mongolian translator, for which two elite police commandos have been convicted and are facing death sentences. "I have said it many times: Najib is not involved with the murder of Altantuya. This is (Abdul) Razak Baginda's work," he said, referring to the PM's former political advisor who once had an affair with the Mongolian. "I had briefed Pak Lah that Najib was not involved in this case," Musa said, referring to the then-PM, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. A 26-page book titled "The Black Rose ― Black Rose 1.0", which describes the tangled web of high-profile personalities purportedly involved in the murder conspiracy, has been circulating on the Internet over the past few days. Carpet dealer Deepak Jaikishan, who is at the centre of the controversy surrounding P. Balasubramaniam's conflicting sworn testimonies on the case, yesterday admitted to being the book's author. He also said he will release a sequel. Balasubramaniam, a former policeman-turned-private investigator who was at that time hired by Abdul Razak Baginda to keep an eye on Altantuya, is seen to be a key witness to the whole saga. Deepak recently revealed his involvement in getting Balasubramaniam to make the second statutory declaration (SD), reversing an earlier statement linking Najib to Altantuya's murder. The Bar Council was chided on Tuesday for dragging its feet in investigating the identity of the mystery lawyer behind Balasubramaniam's controversial second SD. Lawyer Americk Singh Sidhu, who is acting for the former private detective, said that the Bar Council should speed up its inquiry on the high-profile case that had previously been linked to several high-ranking government officials and resurfaced recently in the run-up to the 13th general election. The Bar Council has said it is investigating the possibility of misconduct in the drafting of Balasubramaniam's second SD, which contradicts his previous sworn statement made just a day earlier over the death of the Mongolian translator. A cloud of mystery has been hanging over the identity of the lawyer who had drawn up Balasubramaniam's second SD, dated a day after his first on July 3, 2008, regarding the Altantuya murder case. Last month, Musa accused politicians, including Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, of interfering with police work.
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| Deepak denies link to documents Posted: 02 Jan 2013 04:38 PM PST
He said he never met Rafizi and is uncomfortable with the way PKR has exposed the matter using his name to gain political mileage. (The Sun Daily) - Businessman Deepak Jaikishin has denied that he has anything to do with bank documents produced to the press by PKR strategic director Rafizi Ramli that allegedly incriminates him. He said he never met Rafizi and is uncomfortable with the way PKR has exposed the matter using his name to gain political mileage. "The documents... are not my documents. I have never seen the documents. If he (Rafizi) said he got it from an intermediary, then who is he? "I would like him (Rafizi) to come forward and explain how he got the documents," he told a press conference at a hotel here yesterday. Deepak also called on PKR de facto chief Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to meet him to discuss the truth and not ask a 'third party' like Rafizi to politicise the matter. He said he is standing alone in the matter and is 'feeling the heat' following the expose he made recently. "If the truth matters, I invite Datuk Seri Anwar to come and present the facts of what they really are (with me). Deepak said he will consult his lawyers to give notice to Rafizi in order to know who disclosed the documents. In an immediate response, Rafizi told theSun that Deepak's denial is expected. He said that the documents were circulated by Deepak himself and as a company director he must be aware of the documents which are actually bank statements and receipts of his two companies. "We can prove that the documents come from Deepak. "He has to convince the public that the documents are not his. He gave the same documents to several people," he told theSun. Rafizi said Deepak is 'playing a game' and trying to put the media highlight onto himself for his "expose" which came on the eve of the Umno general assembly last month.
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| Pakatan plays down Allah issue Posted: 02 Jan 2013 04:29 PM PST
(The Star) - Pakatan Rakyat leaders have tried to play down the controversial use of the word "Allah" by Christians, with PAS saying that the matter has been closed. The leaders of the opposition parties have yet to meet to resolve the differing stand on the issue, although Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had proposed the meeting to resolve the matter. "There has been no discussion on the matter. We (PAS) feel that it has already been resolved as all that needs to be spoken about it has been spoken," said the Islamist party's secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali after attending a Pakatan secretariat meeting here yesterday. Asked if a decision had been reached by Pakatan partners over the issue, Mustafa replied that he did not want to add anything to the matter. Controversy over the "Allah" issue cropped up when Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng urged the Federal Government to allow Christians to use the word "Allah" in their Malay version of the Bible in his recent Christmas message. Lim's message caused an uproar among Muslims, while some Muslim NGOs held protests in front of his office in Komtar, Penang, last month. PAS also hit out at Lim, stating firmly that the word "Allah" should not be used by Christians to refer to God as it would only lead to confusion for both Muslims and Christians. On Dec 27, Anwar conceded that an urgent meeting to discuss the matter was needed to resolve the issue although discussions were held by the Pakatan leadership when the controversy surfaced in 2010. On a separate issue, Mustafa said PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang would decline the air-time offer by RTM to explain his "Amanat Haji Hadi" if no live coverage was given.
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| Group demands jewellery expose probe, Rafizi wants to meet Deepak Posted: 02 Jan 2013 04:03 PM PST The carpet dealer, however, has denied seeing the jewellery bills but Rafizi claimed today the documents were provided by Deepak himself through a third party linked to PKR By Boo Su-Lyn and Syed Jaymal Zahiid, The Malaysian Insider A journalists group wants an investigation of PKR's Rafizi Ramli revelations about carpet dealer Deepak Jaikishan's purported US$4 million (RM12.4 million) jewellery purchases for dignitaries although the controversial businessman has denied the documents. In turn, Rafizi is willing to meet the carpet dealer about the documents which were handed over to the PKR strategy director through a third party. "The Young Journalists Club of Malaysia (KWMM) is very worried about the trend of the federal opposition exposing private and confidential documents, whether owned by individuals or the government, for insidious purposes," club president Dzulkarnain Taib said in a statement today. "KWMM takes the irresponsible behaviour of an opposition leader like Rafizi (picture) very seriously, who has made baseless assumptions and allegations without strong evidence. This was done merely for political purposes and to get more votes, since the 13th general election will be held soon," he added, using the club's Bahasa Malaysia acronym. Rafizi was charged last August with violating the Banking and Financial Institutions Act (BAFIA) for allegedly exposing confidential banking details of NFCorp. The NFCorp runs the National Feedlot Centre (NFC), a RM250 million federal-funded cattle-farming project that has been at the centre of a major national scandal. Yesterday, Rafizi provided the media copies of transaction records, including one for a US$115,000 purchase of polished diamonds from Dehres Ltd, a fine jewellery supplier from Hong Kong. Another document detailed transactions worth US$3.9 million involving the purchases of rings, necklaces and earrings from Firestone Co Ltd, another Hong Kong-based fine jewellery supplier. Rafizi has said that Deepak was acting as a jewellery middleman for a local dignitary. The carpet dealer, however, has denied seeing the jewellery bills. Deepak also accused Rafizi of making the exposé for political mileage. But Rafizi claimed today the documents were provided by Deepak himself through a third party linked to PKR and suggested that the carpet dealer's outburst yesterday was caused by the party's initial refusal to "champion" the issue.
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| Dr M: Beware the one who hoodwinks Posted: 02 Jan 2013 03:53 PM PST The former premier warns Malaysians not to fall prey to Anwar Ibrahim as he once had in the past. RK Anand, FMT More than a decade ago, he was considered the protege of and heir apparent to Dr Mahathir Mohamad. But in 1998, the ties turned sour. And the rest, as they say, is history. In his latest blog posting, Mahathir claimed that he was once hoodwinked by the religious piety of Anwar Ibrahim and warned Malaysians not to fall prey as well. Now as his nemesis leads the opposition charge for the coming general election, where for the first time in more than five decades a change of government was considered possible, the former premier once again issued a dire warning. Targeting Anwar, he pointed out that the former deputy premier had not brought about positive changes during his tenure with the government. "Now as leader of the opposition, he is claiming to bring about changes. What good change did he introduce when he was in the government? "All he was interested in was getting up the leadership ladder of Umno in order to become prime minister. How he achieved his objective does not bear scrutiny," he added. Recalling the 1997-1998 financial crisis, Mahathir said Anwar, who was also finance minister then, had attempted the International Monetary Fund (IMF) solution without IMF loans. "Banks and companies were faced with the threat of bankruptcy from non-performing loans. Imports cost more. Cost of living shot up. "The track record of the minister of finance then was bad although there is a fondness of claiming success brought about by others as his success. PNB, UIA and Islamic banking were part of the claim," he added. Pakatan aping Obama Mahathir warned Malaysians that experimenting with change and placing federal power in the hands of Anwar and PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang-led government would be perilous. "Many things can be destroyed in five years. We have some experience of this," he said, alluding to his handpicked successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, whose one term in power witnessed the opposition making significant gains in the 2008 polls. "Besides, the opposition as government will ensure that there will be no return for BN [Barisan Nasional]. Officers in the government will be used to 'gempar' [threaten] whoever tries to change the government. We know this has happened before," he said. "Already we see this person who claims to fight for free speech suing and resorting to the courts to shut the mouths of his critics. Other powers of the government will be similarly abused. Nepotism and cronyism will be employed as indeed they are in the party he now heads. "The record is there. Malaysians must not allow themselves to be hoodwinked as I was hoodwinked by the appearance of religious piety in the past," he added. Mahathir also accused Pakatan Rakyat of aping US President Barack Obama in terms of making unkept promises of change in the run-up to the elections. "Making promises during campaigns for elections is easy. Keeping them is a different matter. The best hope is that people's memory is short. They will normally forget the promises. "Give them a chance, they [Pakatan] say. BN has ruled this country for 55 years. It is time to change. They will change this into a welfare state. Everything will be free. No fees for education, no tolls, large subsidy for petrol, 20% royalty to oil-producing states etc..etc," he said.
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| Pakatan to decide on ‘Allah’ issue next week Posted: 02 Jan 2013 03:34 PM PST Anwar says the matter would be deliberated at the opposition pact's leadership council meeting scheduled for next Tuesday. G Vinod, FMT The Pakatan Rakyat leadership will be holding a meeting on Jan 8 to deliberate on use of the word "Allah" to represent God in Malay language Bibles, said PKR supremo Anwar Ibrahim. "We have will be holding our leadership council meeting next week and I believe the matter will be raised. We will discuss this," said the former deputy prime minister. Last month, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng urged the government to allow Christians to use the word "Allah", to address God in the Malay language Bibles. However, his suggestion drew criticism from several Muslim-based NGOs which cautioned Lim not to provoke the Muslims. Lim was also rebuked by his ally within Pakatan when PAS information chief Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said that non-Muslims should abstain from using the word Allah in their holy books as reference to God. Meeting with Bank Negara confirmed "We have proposed to meet on Jan 17, which they have tentatively agreed. They promised to get back to us," said Anwar. The US-based financial watchdog reported that Malaysia ranked number two in terms of illicit outflow of funds in 2010, ranking second to China. The report indicated that Malaysia lost RM200 billion in that year alone. Between 2001 and 2010, Malaysia lost about RM871 billion in capital outflow. Describing it as "alarming", Anwar had since offered to meet Bank Negara governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz to offer solution to the matter.
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| Musa: IGP, top brass avoided me Posted: 02 Jan 2013 03:30 PM PST The ex-top cop defends his open criticism of the police force, saying that he had reached a dead end when trying to engage with the top brass and his successor the inspector general of police. Anisah Shukry and Teoh El Sen, FMT Each time Musa Hassan approached his successor Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ismail Omar, the latter would "walk away" from him, making all communication between the two impossible, the ex-IGP said. "I don't have the chance to talk to [Ismail] because whenever we meet even in public, he just walks away from me," said Musa in a recent interview with FMT. "I don't know [why]. Maybe they think I am no longer relevant," he said. Musa said this when asked if he had raised the issue of criminal elements and political interference in the police force with the IGP before announcing it to the public. Musa had dropped the bombshell two months ago during a press conference with crime watchdog MyWatch, which coincided with the opening of the Umno general assembly. His timing, as well as his new role as the patron of the NGO lead by PKR members, had led many to grill him on his motives. While the question on most people's lips is "why now?" (Musa's reply: the timing was a coincidence), others have expressed disgust at what they perceive as efforts that could destroy the police force's credibility. Musa's rival, former top cop Ramli Yusuff had slammed him for turning to the media instead of discussing the issues with Ismail in private. "You don't have to say these kind of things in the open. These are internal matters. Musa could have discussed it discreetly with Ismail, meet up with him, tell him nicely," the former commercial crimes investigation department (CCID) chief had told FMT last month. But Musa told FMT that not only did Ismail deliberately avoid him, but the top brass also refused to speak with him on the matter. "I have spoken to some police officers. But of course they are lower rung, they can't do anything about it. But the bosses, they refuse to talk to me," claimed Musa. When asked whether the current leadership of the police was open to discussing such issues head-on in a transparent manner, he said: "I don't think so." "I see Ismail [as] only a ceremonial IGP. He would only attend ceremonies," Musa remarked. He also dismissed claims by his detractors that his bombshells would destroy the credibility of the men in blue. Instead, Musa said, open criticism of the police force would encourage transparency and enhance its credibility. "I don't think so, [that making claims publicly would erode confidence in the institution]. You have to be open about this… "If you keep quiet and keep things this way… there will always be the perception of the public that you are not doing anything," Musa pointed out. "[Then] it would erode the credibility of the police and also the confidence of the people [towards the police]." 'People still want me to be involved' Ramli had also criticised Musa, now technically a civilian after having retired in 2010, for "disturbing" the police with his allegations. "When you have retired, your days are over. You don't disturb. Your successors have their own way of doing things. You are gone, so why do you want to disturb?" Ramli had said. But Musa told FMT that he still received text messages and even visits from people asking for his help in matters related to crime. He said that when people contacted him for advice or help, it meant that they still wanted him to be involved in crime-fighting. "The question mark is why people still give information to me even though I am retired, when they can give it straight to the police officer? "That's why I feel sometimes that something is wrong here. Why should people trust me? They should trust the police because I am already retired," stressed Musa. He said that despite being a civilian, he could not bring himself to deny them help as they would come to his house asking for advice.
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| ‘Jewellery documents are from Deepak’ Posted: 02 Jan 2013 03:25 PM PST The PKR leader claims that the documents showing purchases of expensive jewellery supposedly for Rosmah Mansor came from Deepak himself, through a third party. G Vinod, FMT PKR has claimed that the documents implicating businessman Deepak Jaikishan in the purchase of expensive jewellery was from the latter himself. "Few months back, Deepak himself gave the documents to some PKR leaders. The documents were later handed to me for further deliberation," said party strategic director Rafizi Ramli today. Yesterday, Rafizi produced several documents claiming that two carpet companies linked to Deepak had purchased 19 types of jewellery worth about RM13 million in 2009. The jewellery was said to be purchased on behalf of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak's wife, Rosmah Mansor. Deepak, however, was not pleased with Rafizi's exposé and said that the documents were not his. "I've never seen the documents Rafizi is producing. Those are not my documents. He has to come forward and tell us where he got these documents from," Deepak was reported as saying. However, the businessman did not rebut the allegations made by Rafizi, saying he would seek legal advice on the matter. Rafizi said that while Deepak could claim what he wanted, the latter should however explain why his company purchased the jewellery. "If he believes the documents produced are forged, I urge Deepak to lodge a report with the authorities," he added. However, Rafizi insisted that the documents came from Deepak and PKR leaders would lodge a report with the police and the MACC on the matter on Monday. "I will cooperate with the authorities on the matter. In fact, the individual who received the documents from Deepak has agreed to vouch that he received it from the businessman," he said. Rafizi also explained why he did not pursue the matter earlier, saying that at that point of time, it was not a matter of public interest. "But when the government announced that RM160 million from Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT) would be used to purchase Deepak's company and a land belonging to Awan Megah Sdn Bhd, the whole situation changed," he said.
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| Posted: 02 Jan 2013 10:24 AM PST
(The Star) - Selangor Umno deputy chairman Datuk Seri Noh Omar has dared Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim to answer claims that the state government is selling five assets, worth a total of RM321mil. He said there were claims that the Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS) board of directors had agreed to sell five buildings Wisma Yakin, PKNS Shah Alam, PKNS Bangi, a building in Petaling Jaya and the SACC Mall. Noh said the reason for the alleged decision was not known and he called on Khalid to explain. "Perhaps he is selling the assets because he knows the Opposition won't win in the next general election," he told reporters at the Parliament lobby. He stressed that he was not accusing Khalid of anything but was merely challenging the Mentri Besar to deny claims of the sale. He also scoffed at Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's statement praising Khalid as an excellent Mentri Besar. He said Khalid had lied over the audit on Universiti Selangor (Unisel) when he claimed that the report had not been finalised. "His lie was exposed after the Auditor-General's Report was released and revealed that Unisel suffered losses," he said. The 2011 Auditor-General's Report revealed that Unisel was running at a loss and the performance of the university, as operated by Pendidikan Industri YS Sdn Bhd (PIYSB), was not up to the mark. The report indicated that PIYSB, a subsidiary of Mentri Besar Incorporated, had run into pre-tax losses amounting to RM198.1mil in 2010.
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| Singapore 6th, Malaysia 36th best nation to be born in 2013, survey shows Posted: 02 Jan 2013 10:15 AM PST
(The Malaysian Insider) - Singapore jumped to the sixth best place to be born in the world this year while Malaysia was 36th, according to an Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) index of 80 nations that attempts to measure which country provides the best opportunities for a healthy, safe and prosperous life. Southeast Asia's third biggest economy hopped up two rungs from the 38th spot it occupied 25 years ago, when the EIU —- a sister company to the influential Economist business and current affairs magazine — first ran its "Where-to-be-born" index in 1988, edging out other nations in the region except for Singapore. A quarter century later, the Lion City has shot to 6th place, up from 36th out of 48 countries in 1988 when it tied with East Germany before the Berlin Wall crumbled.
Thailand ranked 50, the Philippines which placed 24th in 1988 dropped to 63, tying with Sri Lanka, while Vietnam and Indonesia took 68th and 71st positions respectively. Malaysia drew 6.62 out of a 10-point scorecard in the study of life-satisfaction survey, which seeks to quantify how happy people say they are based on a list of 11 economic and socio-political indicators such as a country's income per capita, cost of living, human rights, life expectancy and literacy and education levels. However, the methodology used to crunch up the numbers for its statistics has also changed from when the index was introduced. Read more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/singapore-6th-malaysia-36th-best-nation-to-be-born-in-2013-survey-shows/ |
| Taboo on premarital sex can lead to tragedy in changing Oman Posted: 02 Jan 2013 10:06 AM PST
(The Star) - "This is not about pregnancy or abortion. This is about parents who should stop branding their daughters as sinners when they make mistakes so early in life." When unmarried 19-year-old Sama got pregnant, she ran away from home to have an abortion rather than face family wrath. The young man who got her pregnant had refused to marry her, saying he could not afford the financial burden. So she went to share a room with a friend in a university hostel in the Omani capital Muscat, 450 km (280 miles) away from her hometown of Buraimi in the north of the Gulf Arab state. The abortionist was her friend's aunt, a 76-year-old woman who boasted that she had successfully terminated over 200 foetuses in a long, illegal career. The operation in April last year proved nearly fatal for Sama. "It was extremely painful and I nearly bled to death. I stayed in hospital for a week recovering from the botched procedure," Sama, who requested that her family name not be used to protect her identity, told Reuters. Oman, a conservative Muslim country, is grappling with the strains of modernisation. Two decades of fast economic growth, fuelled by oil exports, have raised living standards and increased people's freedom of movement, giving men and women more day-to-day contact than they would have back in their tribal villages. At the same time, cultural attitudes have not shifted nearly as much: pregnancy out of wedlock is widely regarded as a sin and young women can face severe beatings at the hands of their families. In addition, a family's honour can be damaged by the disclosure of a pregnancy. The result is that a substantial number of women feel they have to abort secretly rather than bring shame to their parents, social workers say. Doctors are told by the government to obtain the permission of a patient's parents to conduct an abortion. "Young women, if the word gets out, will never find suitors after an unwanted pregnancy as the community brands them as prostitutes, because they had a relationship outside marriage," said Fatma Al Rahbi, a social worker at the Ministry of Social Development. Women in all the conservative Gulf Arab states face similar social taboos and restrictions. But Maryam Hashim, a women rights activist in Bahrain, said: "To put it in a regional perspective, Omani women issues are less open than any other Gulf countries. "Young women there are much more controlled by parents. There are no mixed boy and girl parties or gatherings. Girls are told to hang around with other girls and not boys," she said. "So it is not a surprise that now Omani girls fully capitalize (on their time) at universities and colleges, where they develop secret relationships with boys that end with unwanted pregnancies." HOSPITALS Official statistics are not available, but social workers say they believe the number of out-of-marriage pregnancies, and therefore abortions, has been increasing as Omani society becomes more mobile. Doctors who talked to Reuters at seven different hospitals across the country said about three unmarried women were rushed to the hospitals every month for treatment after abortion attempts left them fighting for their lives. Last year, it was an average of two unmarried women every month who had aborted and were admitted to emergency wings. There are 26 government hospitals across Oman. Some of these women don't make it. "It is horrible the way they are brought in. One came in the back of a taxi and was left at the emergency entrance. The other was left on the roadside in broad daylight and was picked up by a passing car. They both bled profusely and died. I estimate that there are about 50 to 70 abortions carried out illegally every year, " said Hassan Al Hajar, a doctor at Sur Hospital in the eastern region of Oman. He added that women being brought to his hospital refused to name the illegal abortionists, often because they had some personal connection to them. The result was that no charges were brought against the people who performed the botched operations. Saeeda Shamis, 37, a successful businesswoman who runs three beauty parlours in Muscat, married a Jordanian after she was disowned by her family for getting pregnant at the age of 18 with a boy next door. She had a successful abortion but was thrown out of her family home. "The word gets out very fast when you get pregnant. You find no Omani man wants to marry you, and that's why I got married to a foreigner," she said. EDUCATION Some blame the spread of higher education for pregnancies out of marriage. The government is promoting education to help more of Oman's roughly 2 million citizens find jobs and is encouraging the education of women as a way to reduce inequality between the sexes. The number of Omani students in tertiary education in the current academic year is up 9 percent since last year to 41,330, where female students make up 65 percent, according to the Ministry of Higher Education. In Oman, girls and boys are separated in primary and secondary schools but this restriction does not apply to higher education. "Now these kids meet at higher education institutes after they leave schools. They sit next to each other in the classes and they develop relationships that lead to unwanted pregnancies," said Salim Al Battash, a father of two daughters whom he said he married off before they reached the age of 18. The number of Omani women in the work force jumped by 16 percent to 41,000 in 2011 compared to a year earlier, according to official manpower data, and there are more in regular jobs than in other Gulf Arab states. Shamis said that to end or at least reduce backstreet abortions, attitudes in Omani society would need to change fundamentally. "This is not about pregnancy or abortion. This is about parents who should stop branding their daughters as sinners when they make mistakes so early in life." Doctor Hajar said that Omani hospitals are acting under the instructions of the ministry of health not to prescribe birth control pills to unmarried women. "I suspect (this is) because the health ministry fears that it will liberalise the sexual intercourse among unmarried couple," he explained. Parents agree. "You will not find a single parent agreeing to have their daughters given free contraception. If the ministry of health does it, then we will protest and make our voices heard about this. Why? Because it is against our religion to have sex outside marriage," Khalfan Al Mhedhery, a 67-year-old retired oil engineer, told Reuters. A senior official at the ministry of health, who refused to be identified because he was not authorized to talk to the press, said: "Due to religious sensitivities, we do not consider changing laws about birth control at any time. Only married women will receive contraceptive pills. "This subject is too explosive to discuss further."
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