Datin Seri Wan Azizah, who heads Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's Parti Keadilan Rakyat, had repeatedly said she would accept only a personal guarantee from Datuk Seri Abdullah.

'You have to understand how I feel,' she told reporters. She said she had also received assurances back in 1998 that her husband was safe even when he was badly beaten up in police custody.

Nevertheless, she said she accepted the Prime Minister's assurance in good faith. 'I accept the Prime Minister's assurances now. He told us that he, too, did not want to see any brutality,' she said.

She and her eldest daughter Nurul Izzah Anwar, who is also an MP in Kuala Lumpur, met Mr Abdullah yesterday at his office in Parliament House for about 45 minutes, after she sought his guarantee for her husband's safety on Monday.

Mr Anwar has been accused by an aide of sexual assault. Mr Saiful Bukhari Azlan, 23, lodged a police report last week.

Ms Wan Azizah first became an active politician after her husband was sacked in 1998 over the exact same charges of sexually assaulting his employees. She has stood firmly by him, then and now.

She slammed Mr Saiful's report as part of a conspiracy to kill Mr Anwar's political career as the opposition gained in strength.

She said the family feared for his safety after their experience in 1998, when Mr Anwar was violently arrested at their home and beaten up. Then-police chief Rahim Noor was later convicted of assault.

CAROLYN HONG

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