Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi today denied that the United States had put pressure on him after his son was embroiled in the international nuclear black market scandal.

Abdullah admitted that he met top US anti-proliferation official John Wolf on Tuesday - something his aides had refused to confirm - but said Wolf simply wanted to congratulate him on becoming prime minister.

"He did not ask for strict controls," Abdullah said when asked whether Wolf had pressed for more stringent monitoring of exports.

"He is aware we are already looking into it. Of course we need time, it is not something that can be easily resolved."

Abdullah was speaking at a news conference after meeting the supreme council of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition to finalise plans for elections expected by the end of the month.

The main opposition group, the Muslim-based PAS, has seized on the nuclear issue as a campaign topic, claiming that a police report clearing a company owned by Abdullah's son was a whitewash.

Abdullah said he was not worried about the PAS attacks, saying the party had no other issues to capitalise on so had resorted to "character assassination" in an attempt to embarrass him.

"As far as I'm concerned we have done the best that we could," he said, adding that the police report would be sent to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

"They will scrutinise it, they are not fools. They cannot be misled."

While Wolf might not have raised the issue with Abdullah, he met other government officials here and the US has made clear that it wants Malaysia to tighten its export controls.

Kamaluddin misled

A company owned by Abdullah's son Kamaluddin has admitted manufacturing centrifuge parts seized on a ship bound for Libya, where they were allegedly to be used in its nuclear weapons programme, but says it had been misled about the purpose and destination of the parts.

The issue has soured relations between the US and Malaysia, which were on the mend after Abdullah took over from West-bashing former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad when he retired last October.

Abdullah's government has lodged a formal protest over remarks by US President George W Bush linking the Malaysian company to the black market network run by Pakistan's disgraced scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, who has admitted selling nuclear secrets.

It says companies and individuals in many other countries had been implicated wittingly or unwittingly in the scandal but only Malaysia had been singled out.

Malaysia is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, which governs the movement of materials which can be used to make atomic bombs, such as uranium, but has not signed an additional protocol covering nuclear-related parts.

Foreign Minister Syed Hamid said on Tuesday that Malaysia did not see the need to sign the protocol "at present".

Don't sabotage party

Meanwhile, Abdullah again warned Umno leaders not to 'sabotage' the party if they were not selected as candidates in the upcoming polls.

"Don't say leave it to the leadership but (at the same time saying) nominate me...," he said.

"For those who are expecting something, it's natural if you are dissappointed (if you are not chosen) but you should be able to control yourself," he stressed.

Abdullah is seeking to field a sizable number of new faces as candidates but this is expected to raise the ire of the incumbent leaders who are expected to be picked.