PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang has accepted Dr Mahathir Mohamad's apology over the latter's recent comments on the Memali incident.

He stressed, however, that PAS still stood by their position that the 14 civilians who died during the incident were "martyrs."

"Those of us who lived through the incident had decided that they were martyrs, because the government admitted their mistakes.

"He (Mahathir) made a mistake and I heard his apology... we accept it but we are adamant that our comrades died as martyrs," he told reporters in Kuala Terengganu this evening.

The Memali incident refers to a 1985 stand-off between the supporters of PAS member and preacher Ibrahim Mahmud, better known as Ibrahim Libya, in Baling, Kedah.

A clash left 14 civilians and 4 police personnel dead, including Ibrahim.

Last night Mahathir had reiterated his long-held position that Hadi was responsible for the incident by instigating militancy through the latter's 1981 "Amanat Hadi".

Mahathir then referred to those who died in the incident as "mati katak" (died in vain).

Read more: Dr M apologises to Memali families, blames Hadi for deaths

In a video message today, Mahathir apologised for this and said he sometimes said the wrong things.

Meanwhile, participants at the function in Kuala Terengganu had asked Hadi if he had forgiven Mahathir for blaming the PAS president over the Memali incident.

"If it has to do with me, I forgive him. If it has to go with God, then he will have to repent," said Hadi.

Hadi noted that Mahathir has not changed, and stressed he didn't care if the former premier kept attacking him.

"Lately, he has been attacking me. It doesn't bother me. It only wears him out," he said.

The PAS president also said his party would never cooperate with Mahathir unless the latter accepts their Islamic policies.