Umno's internal probe into a logging scandal involving a top party leader had been completed and it was left to the leadership to reveal it, said Beserah state assembly representative Fauzi Abdul Rahman today.

"There is nothing much for me to say...," said Fauzi when contacted. "All the investigations have been done. It's better you ask the top people (on the findings)."

In 2001, Fauzi lodged a police report against former Pahang Menteri Besar Khalil Yaacob for discrepancies in the awarding of timber concessions in the state.

Following this, an internal inquiry was launched on Khalil, who is now information minister and Umno secretary-general.

In his report, Fauzi claimed that the Umno liaison office under Khalil's stewardship flouted logging regulations by extracting more than the quantity stipulated in its permit under the national forestry policy.

Though the report was later referred to the Anti-Corruption Agency, the party supreme council decided to establish an ad-hoc committee to internally investigate the allegations. The progress of both probes remain unknown.

Despite this, three other lower-ranking state party officials were suspended for six years over the logging concessions. Fauzi himself was similarly suspended for being involved in money politics involving division-level party polls, but this was lifted six months later.

However, it could not be established whether the investigation which Fauzi referred to was related to the logging scam in Nenasi which was highlighted by malaysiakini since last week.

Reveal findings

PAS leader and Tahan state assembly representative Abdul Malik Yusof has urged Umno to announce the findings of the probe at the Umno supreme council meeting, to be held in Kuala Lumpur later today.

"Since Datuk Fauzi said all investigations have been done, there should be no problem for them to make the announcement," he said when contacted.

Abdul Malik, who had raised the issue in the Pahang state assembly previously, also called on the ACA to investigate the expos by malaysiakini .

According to documents in malaysiakini 's possession, Umno received a 10,000-acre plot of land in Nenasi - about 100km south of Kuantan - from the Khalil-led state government in 1998 for palm oil plantation.

In 2000, Umno awarded the rights to fell, extract and sell the trees in the area - approximately 40 sq km in size - to a logging company, Seruan Gemilang Makmur (SGM), for a mere RM50,000.

However, SGM sued the ruling party after it failed to obtain a licence to clear the remaining tract of forest after having logged about 7,000 acres over the past three years.

Last month, the Kuantan High Court ordered Umno Pahang to pay RM70,000 in compensation to SGM for allegedly breaching a contract estimated to be worth millions of ringgit.

The legitimacy of Umno Pahang logging the land was also questioned since the plot was never owned by the party - it has repeatedly failed to pay a RM4.8 million premium to the district land office as a pre-requisite for land clearing.

On Monday , a forestry consultant also questioned the approval given to Umno Pahang for logging since the land was not suitable for any form of agriculture since it is mostly a peat swamp forest.

A scam

Meanwhile, current Pahang Menteri Besar and state Umno chief Adnan Yaakob has denied his party's involvement in the botch deal with SGM. He said he was unaware of the deal since the land was approved by his predecessor in 1998.

However, Adnan claimed that SGM had dealt with "one or two individuals" who had cheated the company through misrepresentation and forgery.

He stressed that the issuance of logging licences to SGM falls under the purview of the state forestry department, not the state government.

The MB also told reporters that the state government and Pahang Umno were ready to be investigated on the matter.