KUALA LUMPUR Celcom said Deutsche Telekom AG cannot veto its proposed merger with the cellular arm of Telekom Malaysia to create the biggest mobile phone company in the country.

Deutsche holds an eight percent stake and state-owned Telekom 31.25 percent in Celcom, which is Malaysia's second top mobile phone operator.

In a statement late Friday, Celcom confirmed reports that the German operator had voted against the sale of TM Cellular to Celcom but said it did not need Deutsche's consent for the deal.

The board Tuesday approved the merger despite Deutsche's opposition when other directors outvoted it in favour of the plan, it said.

Celcom was replying to queries from the stock exc