KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim should have consented to giving his DNA sample if he were interested in the truth behind the sodomy allegations against him.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said Anwar could have given the sample at the hospital with his own doctor present if he was afraid that this could have been fabricated.

"Under Malaysian law, the police cannot force any person to give a DNA sample without his consent.

"A DNA sample is considered intimate. As we required his consent, we did not proceed with him.

"If he had gone to the extent of lodging a report with the Syariah Court, the best thing for him was to give a DNA sample. Why get into further arguments and controversy?" he told reporters Thursday at his office in the Parliament building here.

"If he is interested in the truth, he should be willing to cooperate. DNA does not lie. Give your sample and let the experts (test) it," he added.

Syed Hamid was commenting on a statement by Anwar's lawyer that the politician had refused to provide a DNA sample when he was brought to Hospital Kuala Lumpur for a medical examination.

Asked if the police could not compare the DNA sample in the sodomy allegation to the one gathered from Anwar back in 1998, Syed Hamid said it was best to get a fresh sample.

"If we had used the old one, then the Opposition would have disputed the results because it was an old sample," he pointed out.

Syed Hamid said he was also scheduled to table a DNA Bill in the Parliament during this meeting, which would make it illegal for anyone to refuse DNA testing for criminal cases.

"It has been outstanding for so long but I decided to cover all possibilities, including the latest technological development in DNA testing. There is still a bit of finetuning needed," he said.

He also did not dismiss the possibility for the Government to obtain forensic help from overseas in the case.

"But this must not interfere with our sovereignty and the conduct of our investigation," he said.

With the latest police actions, Syed Hamid said the complainant in this case - Anwar's former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari - should be satisfied that the force had done its best to probe his allegations.

"Even if it is later to be classified as `no further action', we must prove we have done everything and that there is no conclusive evidence," he said.

Asked if it was not suspicious that Mohd Saiful had gone to complain to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak before lodging a police report, Syed Hamid said in Malaysia, "a minister's house is open to the public".

On the roadblocks, Syed Hamid claimed he had no knowledge of it and that he himself had been caught in the traffic jams.

On the criminal defamation charge brought against Malaysia Today editor Raja Petra Kamaruddin, Syed Hamid said:

"Every time people make allegations and try to undermine the Government, we can't take action? That's unfair."