Prominent Indonesian-daily Kompas has apologised to the Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak over a report alleging, among others, that his wife had purchased a US$24 million diamond ring.

NONE The matter was revealed in a tweet by Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin on his micro-blog site Twitter account.

"Indonesian newspaper Kompas has apologised to PM @NajibRazak for its recent article full of lies & fabrication," read the tweet.

“Pakatanis won't RT (repeat tweet) this,” said the Rembau Member of Parliament in a smug jibe at the opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition.

"Well-known that Indonesian paper Kompas cultivated by Pakatanis' Paramount Leader. Fed info by Pakatanis. Now caught lying. Padan muka," hit out Khairy further.

The press secretary to Anwar Ibrahim, however, accused the Umno Youth chief of lying, saying Kompas did not issue any apology.

On the contrary, said Eekmal Ahmad, they only accorded an interview with the prime minister.

"Khairy anda bohong!! Sehingga jam 3.48 waktu KL, Kompas menegaskan tiada permohonan maaf kepada @najibrazak. Kompas hanya beri wawancara!" (Khairy, you lie! As of 3.48 KL time, Kompas stressed it has not apologised to Najib Razak. Kompas only gave an interview!)

In another tweet, Eekmal said: "Khairykj jgn spin bro. Anda tweet Kompas dah minta maaf. Anda kaitkan Kompas & Pakatan.Anda benci PR saya faham.Tapi anda cemar imej Kompas!"

(Khairy, don't spin, bro. You tweeted that Kompas apologised. You associate Kompas with Pakatan. You hate PR (Pakatan), I understand. But you smear Kompas' image!")

NONE Malaysian news agency Bernama , however, has reported that Kompas has indeed apologised to the prime minister over the Aug 4 report that it said contained elements of slander.

The apology, according to Bernama , relates to alleged links between the prime minister's wife Rosmah Mansor and a certain business enterprise, goes on to deny any truth to claims over the purchase of a 24-million-dollar ring.

The apology also referred to claims that Najib's future in-laws were linked to the Russian mafia.

Bernama reported Kompas chief editor Rikard Bagun as saying in an article over the weekend: "Atas berita tersebut, Pemimpin Redaksi Kompas Rikard Bagun, Sabtu (20 Ogos) di Jakarta, secara khusus menyatakan permintaan maafnya kepada Ketua Kerajaan dan keluarga."

najib razak and rosmah mansor 1 (Over the said report, Kompas chief editor Rikard Bagun, on Saturday (Aug 20) in Jakarta, specifically sought to apologise to the government leader and his family.)

The apology was contained in paragraph 10, on page 10 of the newspaper in a report entitled "PM Najib Razak: Demokrasi Juga Terjadi di Malaysia" (PM Najib Razak: There is Democracy in Malaysia), wrote senior Kompas journalist Jimmy S Harianto.

Harianto, who was contacted by Bernama last Friday, also said he had personally conveyed his apology to Najib when he met the prime minister at the Ministry of Finance in Putrajaya last Thursday.

At the meeting, Bernama said Najib expressed surprise with Kompas' Aug 4 report containing the allegations.

"I was shocked with the report. The fact is, I know it is not at all true," Najib was quoted as saying in Harianto's article.

"What more when this concerns the name of a neighbouring country, relations with which we appreciate very much," said Najib.

In the meeting with Najib, Harianto interviewed the prime minister on bilateral relations between Malaysia-Indonesia.