Mahathir: Murder case of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu will be retried

[JAKARTA] Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has announced the retrial of the 2006 murder of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu.

Talk of reopening the murder case emerged after Ms Altantuya's family lawyer Ramkarpal Singh had said Attorney General Tommy Thomas gave "positive" signs that the case would be probed again following the emergence of new leads.

On the new leads, Mr Ramkarpal said he was "not at liberty" to reveal what they are.

Deputy Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Noor Rashid Ibrahim last week said that the police may set up a committee to oversee fresh investigations into Altantuya's murder.

Ms Altantuya, 28, is believed to have been shot dead before her body was blown to bits with explosives at a secondary forest near the Subang Dam in Puncak Alam, Shah Alam, in 2006.

Former Special Action Force personnel Sirul Azhar Umar, together with fellow colleague Azilah Hadri, were convicted of Ms Altantuya's murder and sentenced to death.

Sirul fled to Australia and is currently under detention by the country's immigration department.

Australia does not allow a person on death row to return to their home country.

Abdul Razak Baginda, a close associate of former prime minister Najib Razak, was charged with abetment for the murder but was later acquitted.

THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK