Government not ruling out RCI on Memali - PM Najib

The government is not ruling out the possibility of setting up a Royal Commission of Inquiry on the Memali incident to establish the truth and gather facts and if it can prove to be beneficial, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

"Right now, we are waiting for feedback from the people, including those who were affected by the incident, before the government makes the final decision (on setting up the RCI).

"We are not ruling out what (Deputy Prime Minister) Datuk Seri (Dr) Ahmad Zahid (Hamidi) said (on the setting up of the RCI), but we will make the final decision when the time comes," said Najib, who is the UMNO president, after chairing a meeting of the UMNO Supreme Council, here, today.

Ahmad Zahid had reportedly said on Aug 20 that the government was prepared to consider setting up the RCI at the request of any quarters, including the families of the victims, while PAS leaders and some families of the victims called for the RCI to establish what they said was the truth.

The Memali incident of Nov 19, 1985, saw 18 people, four of them policemen, killed and many others injured after police launched an operation to arrest teacher Ibrahim Mahmud, better known as Ibrahim Libya.

At the press conference today with Najib were Ahmad Zahid, who is an UMNO vice-president discharging the duties of the deputy president; vice-president Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein; secretary-generalDatuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor; treasurer Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak; information chief Tan Sri Annuar Musa and Wanita UMNO chief Tan Sri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil.

-- BERNAMA