KUALA LUMPUR, June 20 — Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today maintained he did not meet Datuk Seri Najib Razak in Indonesia last week, saying he need not fly to the republic to meet the prime minister when he can do so in Parliament here.

“We could also meet at the Prime Minister’s Office,” Anwar was quoted as saying by Malay-language news portal Sinar Harian today.

On Saturday, a website speculated that Najib would meet Anwar in Indonesia owing to the fact that both were in the republic at the same time.

It further claimed that the meeting had been planned at least a week ahead and was a bid to help the Umno president shore up his defences ahead of his party’s election this year and before Parliament convenes on Monday.

But Anwar has since rubbished the speculation, saying he had been to Indonesia expressly on the invitation of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

“I met with President Susilo for one-and-half hours. Of course I am glad to meet with him and thankful for the recognition,” he was further quoted in the report.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, whom the website named as the mediator for the purported meeting, has also denied that any such confab took place.