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Medical Association Pleads For Anwar Operation Abroad
by Kazi Mahmood for IslamOnline
KUALA LUMPUR, April 5 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The Malaysian government was urged on Wednesday by the Islamic Medical Association of Malaysia to allow Anwar Ibrahim to undergo surgery in Munich.
Its president, Musa Mohammed Nordin, said Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia's Premier, should put a stop to all the unkind and merciless statements made by various politicians against the jailed leader.
Nordin urged the government to allow the popular Malay leader to undergo surgery in Munich where physician Thomas Hoogland, the foreign expert who analyzed Anwar and said he should be operated outside Malaysia, has a clinic.
Nordin said Anwar's spinal problems are causing much anguish for the medical fraternity and "untold anxiety to his loved ones".
"It is our fervent hope that an amicable compromise would be obtained and Anwar would be offered the best, safest and evidence based surgery currently available for his spinal predicament," the professional said.
"But quite clearly there is a stand off and political doctoring has gained the upper hand and evidenced based medicine has been sidelined," he added, referring to Hoogland's expert advice.
Hoogland has recommended that Anwar undergo surgery as soon as possible overseas, but the Malaysian government has rejected the suggestion.
A tempest of opposition by several Ministers in Mahathir's cabinet has been raised over Anwar's possible trip overseas, with the Prime Minister even accusing Anwar of "politicizing the backache problem".
Hoogland has found himself "attacked" relentlessly for being a foreigner and having assessed that Kuala Lumpur was not the right place for such an operation.
His suggestions that anesthetists in Kuala Lumpur may not be up to the standard and would lack the experience in these operations became a political battle among several Ministers.
In the meantime, the government has portrayed Anwar and his wife, Wan Azizah Ismail, as "unpatriotic" and "ungrateful".
Wan Azizah has not provided any respite for Malaysian officials and has insisted that her husband must have his rights restored for him to be able to have the delicate operation done in Munich.
The Islamic Medical Association of Malaysia agrees with Hoogland's diagnosis of Anwar, saying, "His large central disc herniation and the associated spinal stenosis precludes a conservative dorsal approach due to the increased risk of post operative morbidities."
"And it has been agreed by the panel of experts in Kuala Lumpur and Hoogland that a transformational endoscopic disectomy would be the surgical procedure of choice for decompression of the nerves," said Nordin.
Anwar, who was allowed to attend his mother's funeral yesterday, was unable to stand for long and had difficulty walking. Those close enough to touch Anwar while he descended from the ambulance bringing him to the funeral said he appeared visibly in pain.
His waist was heavily strapped and most of the time he was seated on a wheel chair. "The excruciating pain and physical suffering of Anwar, the sense of helplessness of his family and friends alike, the diagnostic MRI scans and the consensus of opinion of medical experts must surely touch our hearts and human conscience," said Nordin.
Nordin appealed to Mahathir to enable medical experts "to discharge their duties professionally without any form of interference whatsoever from pseudo doctors."
"And I appeal once again to the Prime Minister to make it possible for Anwar to undergo the endoscopic procedure at the earliest possible opportunity, in the best possible medical center dedicated to spinal surgery," Nordin pleaded.
The Anwar surgery episode has irritated the Malaysian government to such an extent that it has issued strong warnings against its opponents, with Mahathir calling the opposition "proxies" of foreign forces out to destabilize the country in the wake of its call not to allow Anwar to fly off to Germany.
Mahathir also said he suspected that Anwar would use this opportunity in Munich to deal a political blow to his government, exposing himself to the media in the West, something the government could not control.
He also said that Anwar might not return to Malaysia once the operation was performed. Wan Azizah has said that would be a farfetched idea and that she offered personal guarantees that Anwar would come back to his cell in Kuala Lumpur.
Anwar supporters said Malaysian authorities "would be finished if Anwar goes to Munich and comes back to jail. That will make a legend of him and the government fears his operation could backlash against them" an editor of a "reformasi" website wrote.
Anwar in tears at funeral
Wednesday was also a day of mourning for the Anwar Ibrahim family. The death of his mother, Che Yan Hamid Hussain, 76, to whom he was very close, sources said, was a prime occasion for pro-reform supporters to have a full view of their leader after two years in police custody.
It was the first time in three years Anwar went to his house where armed men arrested him.
He was allowed to leave the ambulance only on the express condition that his supporters would not shout out the battle cry of "reformasi".
However, more than 2,000 supporters chanting "reformasi" greeted the heavily guarded Anwar as he approached his house and then seen at the cemetery to pay final respects to his dead mother. He had tears in his eyes, journalists who were near him said.
Protestors had blocked the ambulance before it reached both the house and the cemetery, knocking on the windscreen of the ambulance, knowing Anwar was inside. The excitement of reformasi supporters made many unhappy among anti-Anwar politicians.
The demonstrations sent a clear message that the jailed leader was still popular and that the reform movement led by his wife, Wan Azizah, and the Alternative Front (AF) was alive and well, supporting a statement given by Wan Azizah to IslamOnline in an interview three weeks ago that, "The popularity of Anwar is almost intact if not growing."
Shouts of "Reformasi" and "Allahu Akhbar" (God is Great) rang out as Anwar left the graveside after the brief service. He was seen clutching one of his daughter's hands throughout the ceremony.
Anwar wept and waved to the crowd at his house before being driven to the cemetery.
Anwar was fired in September 1998 and later tried and convicted of corruption and sodomy. He claims the charges were made up to crush his challenge to Mahathir.
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