11. But supposing a Deputy Prime Minister writes a letter of recommendation for his sister-in-law to an official or minister of another country who could be expected to take a serious view of the recommendation because the writer is a Deputy Prime Minister of a friendly country and the recommendation is for his sister-in-law, does this constitute lobbying, or corruption or abuse of power. We need to know so that such letters of recommendation would not be written again. We need to know if they were written before, can action be taken against them now since we are now taking action on things which happened in the past. By being very clear about the past, the present and the future Malaysia would become highly regarded as the epitome of righteousness and the practitioners of the rule of law.
Extract of Bernama news
| May 06, 2008 21:38 PM | |
Abdullah Says Not Associated With Oil-For-Food Programme Firms
KUALA LUMPUR, May 6 (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Tuesday he has no association with two local companies, Tradeyear Sdn Bhd and Mastek Sdn Bhd, said to have been involved in the United Nations' Oil-for-Food programme in Iraq.
The prime minister said the two companies had been named in the report of the UN Independent Inquiry Committee but the statement that the companies "were closely associated with me is not at all correct".
Abdullah said this perception arose because of his family links with Faek Ahmad Shareef, one of the owners of Mastek, because Faek had been married to his sister-in-law Noor Asiah Mahmood, the younger sister of his late wife Datin Seri Endon Mahmood.
He made this clarification in a written reply to Wee Choo Keong (PKR-Wangsa Maju) who had asked the prime minister to state whether he intended to set up a royal commission of inquiry into the findings of the Independent Inquiry Committee into the UN Oil-for-Food programme which claimed that the two companies were closely associated with Abdullah.
The prime minister said the matter had been clarified in the third paragraph on page 161 of the full report of the independent inquiry committee.
"The report states that the involvement of Faek Ahmad Shareef is based on the perception of the Iraqi government personnel who saw him as the individual who could help overcome the economic sanctions by strengthening the relationship between the Iraqi and Malaysian governments," he said.
Besides, he said, the Iraqi government also regarded Faek as having the capability to bring more Malaysian trade delegations to Iraq.
"Note 324 on pages 161 and 162 of the full report of the UN Independent Inquiry Committee states that the committee found no evidence that I received benefits or rewards in any form from the oil transactions allocated to Mastek.
"Note 324 also clarifies that my only connection with the Iraqi government at that time was a letter to introduce a Malaysian trade delegation to the Iraqi vice-president then, Taha Yassin Ramadan," he said.
Abdullah said that with the explanation of the UN Independent Inquiry Committee, there was no reason for the government to set up a royal commission of inquiry to look into the findings.
-- BERNAMA
Does anyone dares to report it to the Anti Corruption Agency?
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