KUALA LUMPUR:"Tan Sri Zaleha Ismail was my mentor in politics," said Selangor UMNO chairman Tan Sri Noh Omar.

Noh said Zaleha had guided and moulded him into a successful politician.

“Her friendly and soft approach made her well-loved by many and I regularly visited her then,” he told Bernama here when he visiting the family.

Also present at her residence in Taman Perwira, Gombak was Selangor UMNO deputy chairman, Datuk Megat Zulkarnain Omardin.

The former Minister of National Unity and Community Development, aged 84 passed away at 8.15 pm due to several health complications.

She died at a private hospital in Kuala Lumpur after experiencing breathing difficulties at 6 pm.

Her remains would be brought to Salahuddin Al-Ayubbi Mosque in Taman Melati here at 9 am tomorrow morning and would be laid to rest at Taman Ibukota Muslim cemetery here.

-- BERNAMA