Be More Open-Minded, PAS Urged

MUAR, Aug 17 (Bernama) -- PAS top leadership has been urged to be more open-minded when confronting problems in the interest of Muslims in the country and abroad.

Umno information chief Datuk Ahmad Maslan said that if non-Malays could discuss common issues, he wondered why PAS and Umno could not do likewise.

"Why PAS and Umno cannot be sit down and discuss issues affecting Muslims. Are we so bad to PAS. For example, what's wrong if we sit down and issue a joint statement on Palestine," he told reporters at the breaking of fast at the Mile 18 Jamek Mosque, Air Hitam here yesterday.

Ahmad was commenting on criticisms levelled against former PAS deputy president Nasharudin Mat Isa after photos of him with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in Mecca were plastered in local papers on Aug 15.

Najib was said to have invited Nasharudin to become his translator during the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Extraordinary Summit in Mecca.

"Ustaz Nasha was there to assist the prime minister during his meeting with leading Islamic scholars in Mecca to discuss Muslim well-being and the fate of oppressed Rohingya Muslims," said Ahmad, adding it was unbecoming of PAS leaders to speculate that Nasharudin would be joining Umno due to the picture.