The cabinet has heard Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's explanation on his confidential letter to the Federal Bureau of Investigation to clear the name of Paul Phua, Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said today.
Anifah said Zahid explained the matter at a recent cabinet meeting.
"We listened to the explanation put forward by him. We agreed to accept his explanation," Anifah told a press conference.
("Kita telah pun mendengar penjelasan diutarakan oleh beliau dan kita telah pun setuju menerima penjelasan-penjelasan yang telah pun diberikan.")
An aide of Anifah later clarified that cabinet had listened to Zahid's explanation instead of "accepting" the explanation as reported.
Asked at the press conference what Zahid had explained, Anifah told reporters to direct the question at the home minister.
Anifah was responding to the question if the action taken by Zahid had exceeded his jurisdiction given that this was normally done by the Foreign Ministry.
However, Anifah did not elaborate further.
Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin (left) had recently said that the cabinet was kept in the dark regarding Zahid's letter.Paul, along with his son Darren, are currently facing charges for involvement in illegal gambling in Nevada, US.
The prosecutor, during the trial, had submitted a report prepared by the FBI where it stated that Paul was a member of the 14K triad, based on information given by the Malaysian police.
However, Paul’s lawyer had submitted a letter written by Zahid to the FBI, that clarified Paul was not a member of the triad and had involved himself in several national security projects, and asked the authorities to release him.
However the letter was retracted the same day following strong objections by the prosecutor as the deadline to submit evidence had lapsed.
Veteran lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah had explained on Zahid’s behalf that the letter was to correct the mistake by the police, adding that 14K triad had never existed in Malaysia.
While the police were not aware of the letter, IGP Khalid Abu Bakar had said that there were overseas Malaysians known to be members of the triad.
Zahid has yet make a public statement on this letter.
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