Former Indonesian VP denies speaking to Berita Harian

Former Indonesian vice-president Jusuf Kalla, said to have mediated a deal between top Malaysian political rivals to respect the outcome of the May 5 general election, has written to an UMNO-owned daily denying he had given any interview to the paper.

In a short letter to Berita Harian yesterday, Jusuf (pic) said the paper's correspondent Al-Azharri Siddiq had never conducted any interview with him, based on which the daily had last month published a report.

The report claimed that Jusuf had accused Pakatan Rakyat of receiving foreign funds to engineer the mass post-election rallies protesting electoral frauds.

"What was reported by Berita Harian as an interview is not correct. Following this, Al-Azharri has already apologised to me many times," Jusuf said in his letter addressed to Berita Harian's chief editor.

Earlier in parliament, Anwar said he had proof to show that that Jusuf had never made any statement criticising Anwar's refusal to accept the general election as fair. -HD