DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang has urged the cabinet to come clean on behalf of Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, over what national security projects the government has with alleged kingpin Paul Phua.

This comes after Zahid refused to divulge any information on the matter, claiming that it is a "big secret" and citing the Official Secrets Act 1972.

"The cabinet - on Wednesday - should uphold the principles of good governance and accountability and declassify information on the 'national security projects' involving alleged gambling kingpin Paul Phua, which the police knew nothing about.

"The cabinet should let Malaysians know whether there had been such “national security projects” involving Phua in the past, how many of them and why the Police knew nothing about it," Lim ( left ) said in a statement today.

Zahid became embroiled in controversy after his letter dated Dec 18 last year to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was made public, in which he contradicted the Malaysian police by saying that Phua was not a 14K triad member.

In the letter, he also claimed that Phua had assisted the Malaysian government on "national security" projects.

Lim, who is also Gelang Patah MP, stressed that the government should uphold the principles of accountability and transparency by declassifying the supposed national security projects involving an alleged gambling kingpin.

"If Zahid is not prepared to honestly and publicly admit and apologise for his infamous letter to the FBI vouching for the character of an alleged gambling kingpin, the cabinet - at its meeting on Wednedsay - must revisit the issue, and take a stand which is in accord with national interests," he noted.

Lim added that the public wants to know if the so-called national security projects took place under Zahid's tenure as home minister or under his predecessor, Hishammuddin Hussein.