Prosecutor says Mongolian woman was blown up with explosives

The long-awaited murder trial of a political analyst in the slaying of his Mongolian lover started Monday with prosecutors promising to prove that the accused conspired with two policemen to blow up the victim with explosives.

The case has been one of Malaysia's most lurid scandals. The accused political analyst, Abdul Razak Baginda, is close to the governing party as well as Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, and his extramarital affair that ended in a macabre death has been the talk of the country.

Prosecutor Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah told the court that he has evidence to show that the policemen killed Altantuya Shaariibuu, a 28-year-old freelance translator and interpreter, on Oct. 19, 2006.

He said he will prove that Abdul Razak, 47, "abetted them by planning and giving instructions to get rid of her by killing her" because she was pestering him for money.

"All the evidence will show a case beyond reasonable doubt," Tun Abdul said, adding that he will show that Shaariibuu threatened to kill Abdul Razak's daughter.

Abdul Razak is charged with abetting the murder. The two policemen _ Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Constable Sirul Azhar Umar _ are charged with murder. If convicted, all three face the death penalty.

After their arrest, Azilah led police to a jungle clearing near Shah Alam, the capital of Selangor state, where the remains of Shaariibuu's body were found.

Tun Abdul said he intends to show that Shaariibuu's death was due to "probable blast-related injury" and that she was taken to the site by the two policemen who used the explosives on her.

He said police seized several items belonging to Shaariibuu from Sirul's house and found a pair of bloodstained slippers in his car. A DNA test showed the blood was Shaariibuu's, he said.

Abdul Razak has acknowledged having an eight-month extramarital affair with Shaariibuu from late 2004.

Tun Abdul said that after the affair ended Shaariibuu continued to visit Malaysia. The last time she came was on Oct. 8, 2006 when she left several notes for Abdul Razak.

"The deceased in one of her notes to the accused said that if he refused to give her money his child's life will be in danger," he told the court.

The Malaysian government has sought to distance itself from the case because of the close ties between the ruling establishment and Abdul Razak, who ran a well-known think tank until his arrest last year.

Deputy Prime Minister Najib has rejected opposition accusations that he knows more about the murder, and the scandal has not overtly tainted the government or threatened its position.

The trial was scheduled to start June 4, but was postponed after the attorney general replaced the prosecutor abruptly on the ground that he was seen playing badminton with the judge.

On Monday, Karpal Singh, the lawyer for Shaariibuu's family sought to have the judge dismissed from the case, saying he was the third cousin of a defense lawyer's late wife. But Judge Mohammad Zaki turned down the request, saying the woman is dead and he has "no personal interest whatsoever" in the case.

The three accused were brought to court in handcuffs and made to sit in a dock. Before entering the room, a tearful Abdul Razak hugged his wife who was wearing a T-shirt that said on the front: "Mrs. Abdul Razak Baginda." On the back was written: "And Proud of It."

"I pray to Allah for right to be done. I don't want justice, I want right to be done," she told reporters.