Kuala Lumpur

MALAYSIA may attend the US Department of Justice's proceedings in a civil suit to seize more than US$1 billion in assets that the latter said was illegally acquired with money diverted from an embattled Malaysian development fund, The Star reported.

Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali said that he is contemplating holding a so-called watching brief to "register our interests" because 1Malaysia Development Bhd is a Malaysian company and the government has an interest, The Star newspaper reported on Monday. The Malaysian government didn't need to get involved because it was a private matter between US authorities and four defendants named in the suit, The Star earlier reported, citing Azalina Othman Said, a minister in the Prime Minister's Department.