Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi challenged opposition politicians, who often question the purchase of national defence assets, to raise the matter in Parliament instead of on blogsites or other media.

He said certain MPs used blogsites and other media as the platform to "assault" the ministry over the purchase of these assets but remained silent in Parliament.

azlan Ahmad Zahid said he and Deputy Minister Abdul Latiff Ahmad were ready to answer all questions and accusations raised in Parliament on the purchase of the assets.

He cited Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua as an example, and said the latter challenged him and the ministry on his blogsite but did not ask any question in Parliament.

"I challenge him and others to raise the matter in Parliament with the appropriate facts and arguments," he told reporters in Wangsa Maju, Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Ahmad Zahid also challenged Tony Pua and anybody else who had proof of irregularities in the purchase of national defence inventories to lodge reports with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission with documentary evidence.

Tony Pua had said on his blogsite recently that the price of six units of Offshore Patrol Vessels ordered by the Royal Malaysian Navy was between 26 percent and 870 percent above the cost of various international-class OPVs.

Ahmad Zahid said the ministry would not compromise in the matter of individuals politicising defence and security and would not hesitate to hurl them to court if their allegations were baseless.

He also said that the armed forces' strength in weaponry and its technical operations had to remain classified and were not for public consumption.

- Bernama