VIDEO l 1:26 min

PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu will sue Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi for accusing him of being a Shiite.

The allegation by Zahid, who is an Umno vice-president, is slander, the PAS leader, popularly referred to as Mat Sabu, said today.

NONE "At this time, my lawyer will file a suit against Zahid Hamidi only, as he is the one who sparked the accusations and slander against me.

"I believe he slandered me with the ill-intention of humiliating me and hurting my integrity," Mat Sabu ( right ) told a press conference at the PAS headquarters this aftternoon.

Also present at the press conference were three of his lawyers, Mohamed Hanipa Maidin, Nasar Khan and Aminuddin Zulkifli.

The government has declared Shiism, an Islamic school of thought, as deviant.

The vast majority of Muslims in Malaysia follow the Sunni school of Islam.

Zahid can't order Jakim

Mohamad also accused Ahmad Zahid of abusing his ministerial powers by trying to involve the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) even though it is not under his jurisdiction.

"I am certain that this is a form of abuse of power because we all know Jakim does not come under the Home Ministry therefore how can it arbitrarily empower Jakim to take action against me?" he said.

Mohamad added that he will also lodge a police report against Zahid which he described as "irresponsible" and urge the police to be professional and investigate the minister.

Elaborating on the suit, lawyer Mohamed said a letter demanding for an apology and withdrawl of the accusation will be sent to Ahmad Zahid this week.

"We will give him three days to respond. He should be expecting it. We will send the letter of demand and see his response," he said.