Former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad feared he would be jailed by his successor, said Annuar Zaini, the one-time special adviser to fifth prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Annuar, who was also aide to Musa Hitam when the latter was deputy premier, said this was revealed by Musa when recounting a conversation with Mahathir.

"Now Musa told me - and that was when he and Mahathir was still good - he said Mahathir was very affected and nervous when he saw what happened to the Shah of Iran and (Ferdinand) Marcos.

"Mahathir told him, 'Musa, if we are not careful, one day whoever takes over, he may drag us to court and put us in jail'," Annuar was quoted as saying in the authorised biography of Abdullah launched this week.

Annuar said this to explain how the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Tape were among factors that "sealed Pak Lah's fate".

Annuar, who was also national newswire Bernama chairperson during Abdullah's tenure, said Mahathir was unsettled over the fact that he had to testify at the RCI over the Lingam Tape.

Repeated 'slaps'

This was exacerbated by the fact that Abdullah attended the annual Bar Council dinner, he said.

"Now one after another, Mahathir felt he was being slapped on the cheek left and right, he decided Pak Lah must go," he said.

The RCI was formed in 2007 following the leak of the 'Lingam Tape', an eight-minute video recording showing senior lawyer VK Lingam allegedly fixing judicial appointments.

The lawyer was recorded saying he discussed the judicial matters with tycoon Vincent Tan and now BN secretary-general Tengku Adnan Abdullah – both regarded as intermediaries to then-prime minister Mahathir Mohamad.

The conversation allegedly took place in 2002.

The RCI concluded that the video clip was authentic and Lingam had a conversation over judicial appointments with Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim, who would later be appointed as chief justice.

It recommended action against six individuals including Lingam, Mahathir and Tengku Adnan, and found reason to investigate the six under the Sedition Act, Official Secrets Act, Penal Code and Legal Profession Act.