Inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar has admitted giving the order to stop Dr Mahathir Mohamad from addressing the participants at the 'Nothing to Hide' dialogue session.

"Yes," he replied when asked if he ordered his personnel at the PWTC venue in Kuala Lumpur to prevent Mahathir from delivering his speech.

"When I issue an order to axe the event, this means everything will be called off," he told a press conference at the Bukit Aman police headquarters this afternoon.

To another question, Khalid said police would not record a statement from Mahathir ( photo ) with regard to the dialogue session, where one person was arrested.

"There is no necessity for us to call Mahathir at the moment," he said, adding that the police will also not call the event organiser at this juncture.

Earlier today, he was stopped by police less than 10 minutes into the speech to the over 2,000-strong crowd.

When asked what was the reason given by the police, Mahathir jokingly replied: "They said you guys (press) were too noisy."

"I am just an ordinary man, I don't carry arms, I can't do anything or harm anyone," he added.