Time's up for investigations! Opposition politician Azmin Ali had this message for the government as he released documents to back his claim that a former Israeli intelligence officer was on the payroll of the national carrier, Malaysia Airlines (MAS).

On Dec 24, Azmin made several claims about MAS, including that it had hired the ex-Israeli agent as a consultant for its IT department and that the financially-troubled carrier had paid several individuals 'astronomical' salaries monthly.

The Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) vice-president ( left ) said he had documentary proof but that he would refrain from revealing these pending a response from government officials and MAS within 24 hours.

Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, also the defence minister, reportedly said he was unaware of the situation but that the claims would be investigated. Azmin then extended the deadline to seven days.

When he provided copies to malaysiakini recently, Azmin said: "I am disappointed that Najib has failed to explain this to the public.

"I now have to make a full disclosure in the interests of national security as this (issue) involves a strategic sector."

Sponsored visa

One document was a copy of an application for a visit pass by the ex-Israeli intelligence officer, aged 41. His personal details included his name (withheld here, pending verification), passport information and his curriculum vitae (CV).

The form dated Dec 6, 2005, indicated a first-time application for a multiple entry visa into Malaysia. It was sponsored by a senior IT operations management official.

The man was stated to be a French national, although he was born in the industrial city of Haifa in Israel.

The CV indicated that he had served as a lieutenant in the military intelligence unit of Israel's defence forces between 1983 and 1988. During this time, he "... started a new section in charge of solving analytical problems of strategic national impact".

Azmin also provided a copy of a document which traced a record of MAS officials with access to the airline's data system. This showed that the man concerned had accessed the system even at midnight.

However, Azmin claimed the man's name has since been removed from the system.

"To the best of my knowledge, his identity was removed from the MAS system after my revelation. Either he was asked to leave the company or they have changed his identity," he claimed.

Onus for response

Azmin also questioned why MAS has been paying several IT consultants 'astronomical' salaries per month when its IT department operations were already outsourced to computer giant IBM in 2003 in a 10-year deal worth US$100 million.

He provided a copy of a contract agreement between MAS and an Australian consultant dated Sept 5 last year. The consultant was paid RM4,400 per contract day - or approximately RM100,000 per month - for a year and with the option to extend the agreement for up to12 months.

Three separate copies of invoices - dated between July and September last year and for a total of RM298,202 - were apparently issued by a Kuala Lumpur-based recruitment agency to MAS. This was for its services in recruiting three officials for airline.

According to the invoices, MAS paid the three - a general manager for support services, an 'enterprise architect' and an architect manager - RM68,750, RM17,000 and RM15,000 respectively per month. Their names were stated in the documents.

A senior manager in the MAS' IT planning and services department was responsible for approving all three appointments as well as the hiring of the Australian consultant.

"Why was this department created and why were all these people hired when the works had been outsourced to IBM?" asked Azmin, adding that the onus to explain is now on MAS and the government.

Previous media reports said that, under the outsourcing deal, IBM would manage the airline's daily IT operations while MAS' IT division focused on enabling and improving the company's business performance.

Asked whether he had obtained the documents from MAS insiders, Azmin replied: "That's a non-issue [...] let's us focus on the more important issues that involve national interest."

MAS had previously told malaysiakini that it was "unable to comment" on the allegations made by Azmin.

The airlines was in the spotlight last month over the purchase of three paintings worth RM1.55 million and the employing of a foreign consultant - former Air New Zealand employee Chris Andrew - who was paid RM7,525 a day.

However, the company had said the art purchases were a corporate investment and that the consultation services were needed.

Nonetheless, Andrew quit the job late last month after the furore. At the time, he was the senior general manager, handling the company's information technology outsourcing needs.