Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said today that the sacking of one of Malaysia's leading media figures was not politically motivated but related to an article he wrote angering Gulf nations.

"I want to be open about this. It has nothing to do with the internal politics. If it was personal, we would have taken action long time ago.

"But we are tolerant enough to bear many articles published on the subject of many things concerning Umno," Abdullah told reporters after chairing a meeting of his United Malays National Organisation (Umno), the dominant party in the ruling National Front coalition.

The editor of the government-linked New Straits Times , Abdullah Ahmad, 66, was sacked on Friday.

Abdullah said the sacking was due to an article written and published in the New Straits Times which caused the governments of Saudi Arabia and some Gulf countries to express their opposition.

Relations affected

"This affects relations between countries which we have nurtured. Furthermore, we now chair the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) and this (article) may make our responsibilities more difficult," the premier added.

In his November 12 article entitled "Freeing the Prophet's Land", the editor allegedly criticised the Saudi government.

Abdullah said "we expressed our" concern to the owners of the New Straits Times and the employer ended the editor's employment, when asked if the government asked for his sacking.

The editor held the post of group editor-in-chief of the New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd. for two years and his contract was due to expire in October next year.

The New Straits Times is Malaysia's oldest English-language newspaper and is closely tied to Umno, through ownership by companies seen as proxy to the party. - AFP