Kedah PAS Youth chief Ahmad Tarmizi Sulaiman has claimed that this statement linking the MH17 tragedy to "Allah's wrath" was twisted by Malaysiakini .

Speaking to Sin Chew Daily , he said that Malaysiakini had not published his sentences in full and therefore quoted him out of context.

He claimed that he had only asked MAS to review its policy of serving alcohol on board and did not link this to the downing of MH17 which killed 298 people on board.

He also insisted that his original press statement did not blame the crash on the passengers or MAS’ decision to serve alcohol on board.

He reportedly also expressed his regret over Malaysiakini ’s report, claiming that he had never meant to hurt the feelings of those who lost their loved ones in the Boeing 777-200 which crashed in eastern Ukraine last week.

The news portal on Monday reported that Ahmad Tarmizi linked the MH17 tragedy with “Allah’s wrath”, citing alcohol served on board MAS flights and the flight attendant’s uniforms that do not adhere to Muslim dress code.

“In March, we were shocked by the tragedy of the disappearance of MH370, and now MH17 is reported to be hit either by Russia or Ukraine, with neither taking responsibility for downing the plane carrying more than 200 people.

“In such tragedies, there is a need for the government and MAS to look at the aspect of Allah’s wrath sitting in the bellies of MAS flights, as the flag bearer of a Muslim nation,” his statement reads.

‘Don’t prolong matters’

Malaysiakini had also published his statement in full upon his request, using a title which he had requested. The portal stands by its report.

Ahmad Tarmizi’s press statement was initially sent on Monday with the title ‘MAS amal maksiat undang kemurkaan Allah’ (MAS sins invite Allah’s wrath).

He resent the same statement the next day, with an amended title ‘Tidak rugi MAS hentikan hidangan arak’ (MAS won’t incur losses by halting alcohol sales)

His statement was condemned by various quarters including politicians from both sides of the divide.

When contacted, Ahmad Tarmizi said he was unhappy with the headline of Malaysiakini ’s report and had sought for it to be changed.

“Many sentences in my statement were not used in full, so it was open-ended...,” he said.

“This meant the sentences lost their meanings and caused misunderstanding… so I gave a statement to the Sin Chew reporter because of the misunderstanding.

“The matter should not be prolonged, it’s not a big deal. I just wanted to clarify what was incomplete so it was not misunderstood.”

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