Former intelligence unit DG to lodge police report over CIA letter

PETALING JAYA: The former director-general of the Malaysian External Intelligence Organisation (MEIO) will lodge a police report over a letter sent to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) before the 14th general election.
Datuk Hasanah Abdul Hamid who is at the centre of a controversy over the leaked letter to the CIA has broken her silence over the matter.
In a statement issued through her lawyer, Hasanah said she had been advised to lodge a police report over the matter.
She also said that she would issue a statement on the matter soon.
On Thursday, Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak denied having any knowledge of the letter and said it was not the government's policy than to make public letters of such nature.
The former premier described the letter, which was supposedly written on behalf of the MEIO, as a government secret not meant for public eyes.
"The letter was penned by our intelligence unit, and it is not our policy to reveal such letters as it is government secret.
"If we had revealed the letter, that would just mean there is nothing that we can consider as secret in this country," he told reporters when met at the Parliament lobby, here, yesterday.
Najib was responding to questions by the media on claims by Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng if more such letters were sent to other countries ahead of the elections.
The letter, which was sent just days before the May 9 polling day, had sought the United States' support for Najib's administration even if his Barisan Nasional coalition had won the election with a slim majority.
Najib said the letter was sent via inter-agency and not a diplomatic move, adding that it would not have affected the election results as it was done so close to the polls.
The letter had among other things, appealed for the US to support Najib's administration, saying any indication that the US government would continue to support Najib and his administration would strengthen stability and enhance the existing cordial relationship between the two nations.