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PUTRAJAYA: Bukit Bendera Umno division chief Datuk Ahmad Ismail remains defiant about not wanting to apologise for his controversial remarks, even after having met the Prime Minister and his deputy here yesterday.

He said he had given his report to both leaders and would leave it to the Barisan Nasional supreme council to decide if action should be taken against him.

“I explained to the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) about what happened regarding the manipulation of my remarks by the Chinese press and subsequently by Gerakan, that I did this in the context of defending our party,” he said.

Asked if he thought that during the meeting both Abdullah and Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had intimated to him that he had been wrong and should thus apologise, Ahmad said he “did not see the matter from that point of view.”

“I think both leaders are now more concerned about issues relating to national security and the stability of the Government,” he said.

On whether his asking Gerakan to leave the coalition had caused a rift in Barisan Nasional, Ahmad said the party’s Wanita and Youth chiefs had made similar calls before.

“Penang Gerakan has announced that they will sever ties with Penang Umno. Is that a professional move?” he asked.

On whether he felt angry that Najib had apologised to the Chinese community for his remarks, Ahmad said he was not but the “Malay grassroots are”.

Ahmad claimed that he had received a lot of support from Malay professionals and intellectuals around the country.

Asked if he tendered any evidence to Abdullah that he did not mean his remarks and that these were taken out of context, Ahmad said “we will wait and see in court”.

On the statement by Armed Forces chief General Abdul Aziz Zainal that the Government should take stern action against those who brought up racial issues, Ahmad said the general was free to express his views.

- The Star

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