Najib dodges queries on model

Reporters covering the press conference after the leaders met at the presidential palace were refused permission to ask about the case of 17-year-old Indonesian-American model Manohara Odelia Pinot. –PHOTO: SIN CHEW DAILY

MALAYSIAN Prime Minister Najib Razak dodged questions about the alleged abduction of a young model by a Malaysian prince as he met Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Jakarta on Thursday.

Reporters covering the press conference after the leaders met at the presidential palace were refused permission to ask about the case of 17-year-old Indonesian-American model Manohara Odelia Pinot.

As they fielded approved questions about closer bilateral relations and economic cooperation, Miss Manohara's mother held an emotional press conference of her own to plead with Mr Najib for help in finding her socialite daughter.

Miss Manohara married last year to Tengku Temenggong Mohammad Fakhry, the prince of Malaysia's Kelantan state.

Her mother, Daisy Fajarina, said her daughter had suffered 'emotional and physical abuse' at the hands of her husband, who was holding her against her will in Malaysia.

She said she had been refused entry to Malaysia to see her daughter, who was crying and distraught when she last spoke to her Indonesian family by phone from Malaysia on March 21.

'As the new prime minister of Malaysia I urge Najib to investigate to defend our rights and the truth,' Mdm Fajarina told reporters at the offices of the national human rights commission.

'I just want my daughter to be set free… As a mother I have a right to see my daughter.'

She fainted when she was mobbed by journalists from Indonesia's celebrity press, who have written extensively about Miss Manohara's plight. – The Straits Times