As posted by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at Che Det on April 18, 2016
1. What did the Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia Adel al-Jubeir actually say? The video recording of him answering the question posed by a Malaysian reporter is available to the whole world. Below is the transcription of the recording:
“Your Excellency” said the reporter, “are you aware of the background and details about the issue on the donation to the Prime Minister of Malaysia?”
2. In case Najib’s supporters failed to note, the question is whether Mr al-Jubeir is aware of the background and details about the donation. Accordingly the Saudi Foreign Minister replied, “We are aware of the donation and it is a genuine donation with nothing expected in return.”
3. And he “is aware that the Attorney General of Malaysia had thoroughly investigated the matter and found no wrongdoing (and in) so (as far as he is concerned) the matter is closed.”
4. Being aware of the statements of the A.G. does not mean he agreed with the statement.
5. In Malaysia and also in many countries of the world lots of people are aware of the A.G.’s statements. If you ask them if they are aware, they would say, yes they are aware. If they are asked whether they believe in the A.G.’s many statements, that the 2.6 billion Ringgit is a donation which the PM can do what he likes with it and Najib had done no wrong, their answer would be “No, they don’t believe.”
6. In the video, at no time did the Saudi F.M. retract his earlier statement or declare that the USD 681 million was a donation. Nor did he say he has now found new evidence that it was a donation. All he said was that he is aware when asked whether he was aware. He did not apologise or negate his previous statement made two months earlier to the New York Times. It is the Malaysian media which interpreted his awareness as a negation of his previous statement.
7. Being aware does not confirm anything. One example is the latest Singapore Straits Times report titled: “KL-Abu Dhabi stand-off may hit markets” in which one particular paragraph read: “IPIC said it was aware of media reports that 1MDB had sent money to a company called Aabar Investment PJS in the British Virgin Islands, but that the company was not in its corporate stable.”
In other words, IPIC being aware of media reports does not make Aabar Investment PJS BVI one of its company.
8. DPM Zahid told me to move on over the donation issue. I think Zahid needs to move on more than I do. But unfortunately he has nowhere to go. When his name was mistakenly mentioned as a possible successor to Najib, there was an uproar as the free citizens of Malaysia voiced their rejection.
