Deputy Internal Security Minister Noh Omar has claimed that police were already investigating the nude 'ear-squats' incident several days before DAP exposed the issue in Parliament House.

In the Dewan Rakyat today, he accused the opposition party of having exploited the incident for cheap publicity by exaggerating the facts.

"Before the police could take action, the case was exposed and DAP became a hero by exaggerating the case," he said when winding up matters related to the ministry in Budget 2006.

He said Selangor police chief Yahaya Udin had been informed about the video clip and was investigating it even before DAP exposed it to parliamentarians and the media on Nov 24.

News reports last week had quoted MCA head of public service and complaints department Michael Chong as saying he received the video clip via Multimedia Messaging Service on Nov 21 and had reported this to Yahaya.

Noh confirmed the news report saying that the DAP should learn from MCA as to how to handle such cases.

"We have to handle this via the proper channels. No need to exaggerate it. Now you see its negative impact. The whole world thinks that Malaysia has become like Abu Ghraib (the Iraqi prison where US soldiers abused inmates)," he said.

At this juncture, Bung Mokhtar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan) chipped in to say that the DAP has an agenda to destroy the economy.

However Parliamentary Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur) stood up immediately to invoke the Standing Order, saying that the remark was "mischievous".

This sparked a shouting match between MPs on both sides of the House until Speaker Ramli Ngah Talib advised them to calm down.

Personal gain

During the debate this morning, backbenchers had taken DAP to task over the matter.

"This is cheap publicity and for personal gain. I am bored by all this. I think there may be a hidden agenda here," said Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar (BN-Santubong).

He said the police should not be blamed if the economy and bilateral relations with China are jeopardised.

"You should blame those who exposed the case. Even in the US, they don't expose alleged scandals in the (Congress)...this is all bullshit," said the furious MP.

Hamim Samuri (BN-Ledang) urged the independent panel investigating the incident to also proble those who deliberately tarnish the nation's reputation.

"I've watched the clip. I think the voice in the clip was modified to tarnish the image of Malaysia as a Muslim country," he said.

Noh, meanwhile, declined to reveal the nationality of the nude woman, since the government has handed the case to the independent inquiry commission.

He also said the government has implemented 73 of the 125 recommendations in the report of the Royal Commission on the police.

"These are mainly related to management of the police force.....not the restructuring of the force, (amendment) of laws or increased allocations," he said.

He said the Attorney-General's Chambers is studying the possibility of setting up the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission.

"The government has to see whether it is necessary to set up a new body or to modify the existing institutions. Only then can the government make a decision," he added.