Dr M was in KL during bloody 1985 Memali incident, says Musa Hitam

Former Deputy Prime Minister Tun Musa Hitam (pic) has alleged that during the bloody Memali incident of 1985, former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had been in Kuala Lumpur and not in China as previously claimed.

This revelation comes 29 years after the incident, also called the 'Memali siege', which claimed 14 lives.

“The darkest moment in my political career was Memali, I am being honest,” said Musa during a political discussion in Kota Baru on Wednesday organised by the Kelantan government, according to a report by The Malaysian Insider.

Musa said that after the incident, Dr Mahathir had continued to stay in Kuala Lumpur for a period of “two three days”.

During the November 19, 1985 incident, about 200 policemen clashed with some 400 supporters of local Islamic sect leader Ibrahim Mahmud, who was killed in Baling.

The policemen were ordered by the Home Minister to arrest Ibrahim Mahmud, also called Ibrahim Libya, under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for spreading deviationist teachings and threatening public order then.

The incident claimed the lives of 14 people from that village including four policemen, and left dozens other injured, while hundreds were arrested.

For years, Musa, who was then the Home Minister, was blamed over the incident as he had reportedly took charge of the operations as the Home Minister while Dr Mahathir was apparently in China for a visit.

PAS has described all those who died as martyrs.