Malaysiakini was barred this evening from attending the press conference following the last Umno supreme council meeting chaired by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad ahead of his retirement tomorrow.

A party official at the press registration desk at the Putra World Trade Centre said a standing order barring malaysiakini journalists had been issued by Umno secretary-general Khalil Yaakob.

The official also said the desk had run out of press permits due to the large turnout of reporters for the event.

A log book at the press desk showed that 164 journalists had signed in for the event, including those from various foreign press agencies.

Logging scandal

The order by Khalil, who is also the Information Minister, is believed to have stemmed from his displeasure over malaysiakini's coverage of a July press conference after an Umno meeting.

Malaysiakini had then questioned Mahathir about a multi-million ringgit logging scandal involving Umno Pahang.

In the controversial transaction which took place during Khalil's tenure as mentri besar some five years ago, Umno Pahang was given a vast plot of land, approximately 40 sq km in size, to be developed into a oil palm estate.

Investigations by malaysiakini showed that, although the land was unsuitable for development into a plantation, the plot was completely clear fell by concessionaires.

Mahathir had claimed that he was not aware of the deal.

Publishing permit

Meanwhile, malaysiakini has not received any response from the government with regard to an application submitted for a weekly paper publishing permit.

The application was submitted in September last year but to date, officials at the relevant division have said that they had yet to receive any instructions on the matter.

All newspaper and magazine publishers are required under the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) to apply for a yearly permit from the Home Ministry.

The permit has to be approved by Home Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who will take over as prime minister late tomorrow.

The minister's decision cannot be subjected to judicial review and, in cases where a permit has already been issued, the minister has the right to revoke it at any time.