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Thursday, 25 March 2010

Saifuddin responds to Ibrahim Ali over link to tycoon Vincent

(Harakahdaily) - Machang MP Saifuddin Nasution said Pasir Mas MP Ibrahim Ali should first check the parliamentary hansard before accusing him of making baseless allegations.

Yesterday, Saifuddin linked Ibrahim Ali, who has been in the limelight recently over the ultra-Malay Perkasa organisation which he founded, to a gambling-related company.

While debating the royal address in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday, Saifuddin, urging the government to explain gambling licences given to Ascot Sports, a company owned by tycoon Vincent Tan, claimed that Ibrahim had shares in the company.

This is the second time this month Ibrahim found himself on the defensive over business links with people he had condemned.

A posting on Malaysia Today on March 12 by fugitive blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin shows a copy of a 2003 annual report of Dunham Bush Malaysia - a company then linked to tycoon Vincent Tan - in which Ibrahim is mentioned as one of the directors.

"Do the supporters and members of Perkasa know that Ibrahim Ali who fights against Chinese like Vincent Tan actually goes to bed with Vincent Tan?" asked Raja Petra, referring to the independent MP's attack on Tan and several other non-Malay tycoons in a recent interview with news portal Malaysiakini.

In the latest revelation, Ibrahim, saying Saifuddin had accused him of having shares in a gambling company, declared his innocence.

"Wallahi, wabillahi, watallahi (By Allah), I would swear upon the Qur'an, I have never been involved directly or indirectly in any gambling company. This is a big lie," he said, adding that he will be taking legal action against Saufuddin.

But Saifuddin today clarified that all he had said was that Ibrahim owned shares in a company owned by a gambling tycoon, and not shares in a gambling company.

"There is a difference. (He can) read the hansard because the text of my speech has been very guided," said Saifuddin.

Meanwhile, in a text message, Ibrahim, angered by Malaysiakini's coverage of the issue yesterday, denounced the reporter Salhan K Ahmad as a "dajal" (false messiah/anti-Christ).

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