Among the characters who has gained international stardom amid the ongoing MH370 crisis is Ibrahim Mat Zin, the bomoh (shaman) who is conducting a supernatural search and rescue mission for the missing plane.

His antics at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, with coconuts and bamboo binoculars, prompted a red-faced Khairy Jamaluddin to urge religious authorities to apprehend him.

However, Ibrahim, in a Suara TV recording, issued a stern warning to the youth and sports minister not to cross his path and challenged the later to a duel.

"This boy who just became a minister should not seek publicity using me. Let me do my work (to locate the plane). Don't classify what I do as haram (forbidden in Islam). Meet me first... even the court, before delivering a verdict must investigate a case," he said.

Ibrahim also demanded that Khairy retract his statements, which among others, referred to the bomoh as an "embarrassment and magic carpet shaman".

Failing which, he warned the minister of legal action.

Saying that he was not afraid of Khairy ( left ), he urged the Umno Youth chief to quit his cabinet post and then enter into a bout with him.

In the original quote in Malay, Ibrahim said: " Biar saya cakap terang-terang pada Khairy Jamaluddin. Saya cabar dia. Letak jawatan (sebagai menteri) dan saya letak jawatan sebagai mahaguru. Kita 'try fight'. Saya tampar dia macam buaya nanti, baru dia tahu ."

(Let me be frank with Khairy Jamaluddin. I challenge him. Resign (as minister) and I will resign as mahaguru. We try fighting. I will slap him like a crocodile, then he will know).

The bomoh, who is often seen decked in a coat and wearing a 1Malaysia pin, also said that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had erred in appointing Khairy as a minister.

"If this drags on, I will send a memorandum to Najib together with all 500,000 silat members," he warned.

The bomoh claimed that he was called by a government leader to help with the search and rescue mission, prompting opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim to raise the matter in Parliament.

Today, the Transport Ministry issued a statement denying that it or other agencies had anything to do with Ibrahim.