US envoy says not privy to 1MDB probe
Published on: Thursday, April 06, 2017
Kota Kinabalu: Newly appointed United States Ambassador to Malaysia since January 2017 Kamala Lakhdhir said the 1MDB case is an ongoing law enforcement investigation by the US Department of Justice."This means that anyone not involved in the (1MDB) investigation is not allowed to know the details. I call it the black box. It is an ongoing, a law enforcement investigation.
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As ambassador, I am not aware of what's going on in the investigation. "The Malaysian government and senior leaders know this, as the ambassador before me had expressed. (Her predecessor Joseph Yun is back in the United States officially engaged with matters related to North Korea.)"This is something outside my control. I respect that. This is a law enforcement matter. If there is choppiness in our relationship, I am confident that the relationship will drive forward for the benefit of the American and Malaysian people," she said, highlighting that trade between the US and Malaysia was worth RM50 billion a year.Kamala takes pride in her Indian ethnicity and that she was named after first Indian Prime Minister Nehru's wife Kamala Nehru. Her parents live in Connecticut.
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She was the guest-of-honour at the Rotary Club of Kota Kinabalu April month gathering at the Hyatt Regency Monday. She said highest among her priorities is relations between the American and Malaysian people to go on.She commended the Rotary Club of Kota Kinabalu for its service above self to the community and to the world, after the club President Jeyan Marimuthu briefed her on the club's activities and events.
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Kamala noted that Rotary originates from the US and is a US organisation but internationally the club like Rotary Club of Kota Kinabalu also belong to the locals here, which "symbolises relations between our two people." As the first female US ambassador to visit Sabah, Kamala wants Rotarians to help to dispel the public perception that it is difficult to obtain US visa from the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. "Malaysians have almost 97 per cent of getting a visa. For students, it's 99 per cent at their first application," she said to rousing applause by Rotarians when one of them requested if she could pre-approve or fast-track Rotarians' visa applications to attend the next Rotarian convention in Atlanta, Kamala said even as Ambassador, she could not and would not try to influence her consular officers.She said the last time she was a consular officer was during her stint in Saudi Arabia. She offered an explanation that the three per cent rejection for visa applicants among Malaysians could be due to answers like, "I am looking for a job," to a consular officer's inquiry as to why an applicant wants to travel to the US.Another Rotarian asked if it was true that if a consular officer asked whether a visa applicant had any family or relatives in the United States, if the answer was yes, the visa application would be denied.Kamala stressed that at all times, visa applicants must tell the truth as they are under oath. She cheerfully noted the company of Rotarians she found herself in here, are employed, with family to return to, unlike some 18 years old or those wanting to work as dish washers in restaurants in the United States.She explained that new President Donald Trump's Executive Orders on immigration (not affecting Malaysia) is still suspended by the courts as her President, is learning during this transition period that governing the US in balancing power partnership with the legislature (Congress and Senate) and the judiciary is designed to ensure that no single branch of the government dominates power. "We are career diplomats, we take an oath to protect and defend the Constitution (of the US) and abide by it and uphold the Rule of Law."Kamala joined the Foreign Service in 1991, serving first at the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (1992-1994), and then at the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia (1994-1996). Returning to Washington, Kamala was assigned to the Secretary of State's Secretariat, advancing the Secretary's foreign travel. From 1998 through 2000, she was the deputy director of the Department's Taiwan Coordination Staff. During a one-year Pearson Fellowship, Kamala worked for Congressman Doug Bereuter (R-NE) on the staff of the House Subcommittee on Asia and the House Subcommittee on International Monetary Policy and Trade.From 2001-2005, she served at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, and then was Special Assistant to Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs (2005-2006). From 2007-2009, Kamala was the director of the Office of Maritime Southeast Asia in the State Department's Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, which is responsible for U.S. relations with the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, and Timor-Leste. From 2009 until November 2011, Kamala was the U.S. Consul General in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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