If national carrier Malaysia Airlines had approval to employ a former Israeli intelligence officer, it would have been a "very exceptional case", according to Deputy Home Minister Tan Chai Ho.

"Such an arrangement must first obtain the government's consent. This issue must have been dealt with by high-level authorities. It was not at my level," he said when contacted.

"I believe there must have been prior screening before the application was approved. And since it involved Israel, the issue would have been deemed even more sensitive."

MAS failed to respond to malaysiakini's queries sent on Tuesday via fax and e-mail to managing director and chief executive officer Idris Jala, and to its corporate communications department.

"We don't have a response," said media relations controller S Anbarasu, when contacted yesterday afternoon.

Idris could not be reached for comment despite repeated attempts since yesterday.

Malaysiakini had reported that Ron Chernin, 41, alleged to be an ex-Israeli agent was on MAS payroll. A copy of his application for a visit pass, with details of his passport and curriculum vitae (CV), was made available by Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) vice-president Azmin Ali.

Chernin's name was withheld Tuesday pending verification of his identity. Calls to his mobile phone have been re-routed into the voice mail service since that day, but there was confirmation that the number was assigned to him.

His visit pass application form dated Dec 6, 2005, indicated it was a first-time application for a multiple entry visa into Malaysia.

The local sponsor was stated as the airline's IT operations assistant general manager Faridah Abdul Rahman, but she too could not be reached on her mobile phone for comment.

Chernin was stated to be a French national, although he was born in the industrial city of Haifa in Israel. His CV indicated that he had served as a lieutenant in the military intelligence unit of Israel's defence forces between 1983 and 1988.

It is not clear if he is still employed by MAS, as his identity may have either been removed from the MAS data system or he may have been assigned a new identity since the expos , according to Azmin.

Lips sealed

MAS group IT and support services senior general manager Marzida Mohd Noor also could not be reached for comment since yesterday. Her name and signature appear on documents approving the recruitment of four individuals who were said to be paid 'astronomical' salaries.

She had signed a contract agreement between MAS and an Australia consultant, Sophia Drum, dated Sept 5 last year. Based on a copy if the document, the consultant was paid RM4,400 per contract day - or approximately RM100,000 per month.

MAS also hired three individuals - general manager for support services Zulaifah Abdul Ghani, 'enterprise architect' Michael Foong and architect manager Ang Kean Leong - who were respectively paid RM68,750, RM17,000 and RM15,000 per month, according to documents.

For its services in recruiting them, MAS paid Aspac Executive Search Sdn Bhd a total of RM298,202. The information is based on three separate copies of invoices issued by the agency to Marzida between July and September last year.

Aspac Group managing director EK Cheah, when contacted, refused to comment or confirm the recruitment on grounds that any information pertaining to clients is confidential. He also refused to divulge the range of fees charged for its services.

Azmin had questioned why MAS had been paying consultants such high salaries when its IT department operations had been outsourced to computer giant IBM in 2003 under a 10-year deal worth US$100 million.

MAS senior general manager Chris Andrew , who handled the information technology outsourcing needs, quit the job late last month after it was revealed that he was paid RM7,525 per day.

'Prove me wrong'

In a related development, Azmin told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur yesterday that he would not lodge a police report over the matter for the time being.

This is to enable the police to complete their investigations into all police reports lodged by his party since 1998.

However, he did not rule out the possibility of pursuing the issues, for instance by taking MAS to court.

He said PKR president and Permatang Pauh MP Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail would raise the matter during the new Parliament session in March.

"Let the government and MAS prove me wrong. If I am wrong, take me to court. (MAS chairperson) Munir Majid has threatened to sue (people who have made statements about MAS). I am prepared to see him in court," added an unfazed Azmin.