The "recycled" allegations by the Wall Street Journal ( WSJ ) against Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak show that there are "external forces" which are trying to interfere with the country's administration, said Minister in the Prime Minister Department's Azalina Othman Said.

"Maybe there are parties from within the country and outside who are trying to use back-handed tactics to topple the democratically-elected prime minister.

"The relentless attacks on the prime minister indicate that there are external forces who want to interfere with the administration of the country today," she said in a statement today.

The parties involved are seen to be "desperate", she said, to the point that they have to attack Najib personally and "recycle" the RM2.6 billion issue again.

She specifically cited the recent allegations made by WSJ finance editor Ken Brown, who had refuted attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali's claim that the RM2.6 billion in Najib's accounts was a donation from the Saudi royal family.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and the Attorney-General's Chambers have both declared that the money in Najib's accounts did not come from 1MDB, she said.

Even Switzerland's attorney-general had confirmed that Najib was not among the individuals being investigated in their probe into 1MDB, she said.

Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had also explained this issue in Parliament on Dec 3 last year, she added.

"The matter is also clear, so all parties including WSJ should not play up this issue anymore.

" WSJ seems to have some personal interests when it keeps playing up the same issue," Azalina said.

WSJ first broke the news in July last year on alleged financial improprieties involving sovereign fund 1MDB, linking the firm to movements of funds involving Najib and an alleged election slush fund.

In late January, the Swiss AG office had announced that its investigations into 1MDB indicated that some US$4 billion (RM16.6 billion) had been misappropriated from 1MDB, which was soon followed by Singapore seizing a large number of bank accounts in relation to the 1MDB probe.

Aside from these two countries, the United States has also opened investigations related to 1MDB.