Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Youth has given former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad 14 days to reveal those who bankrolled his US$1.2 million (RM4.6 million) meeting with US president George W Bush.

If he fails to do so, PKR Youth vice-president Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin ( right ) threatened to bring the matter to the attention of the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA).

Casting doubts over Mahathir's denial that government funds were not used to arrange the meeting, he said the ex-premier could have abused his power and used funds from the public coffers to pay lobbyists for the brief White House meeting in 2002, when he was still in power.

"We view the matter very seriously. The question here is who are the people kind enough to donate such an exorbitant sum without gaining anything from it.

"This is why we doubt his statement and explanation on the matter," he told a press conference at the party headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today.

Shamsul said he will sending an official letter to Mahathir to inform him of the ultimatum.

"We will give him 14 days which we feel is more than sufficient for him to issue an explanation. There would be no excuse for him not to make public the information we are seeking from him," he added.

'Corrupt' system

On Tuesday, Mahathir denied paying US lobbyist Jack Abramoff to set up a meeting with Bush - which was arranged by the Heritage Foundation - but admitted that money did change hands.

"I understood some people paid a sum of money to lobbyists in America but I do not know who these people were and it was not the Malaysian government," he said.

He was responding to a report by the Los Angeles Times alleging that Abramoff - who has since pleaded guilty to fraud and corruption charges - may have helped arrange the Mahathir-Bush meeting and received US$1.2 million from the Malaysian government in return.

Shamsul also questioned Mahathir's claim that paying lobbyists for meeting with US leaders was a normal practice in that country.

"Mahathir and Bush were both leaders in their respective countries. They both have foreign ministries to make G to G (government to government) arrangements for such visits. Even if the practice is normal in the US, that is not an excuse for us to succumb to such a corrupt system," he said.

Shamsul added that he would also seek a response from the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur regarding this matter.

"We will be writing to the US embassy to ask them to explain whether such a policy exists in the country. The letter will be sent next week," he said.

The White House had officially distanced itself from the report and claimed that the Mahathir-Bush meeting was arranged through 'normal channels'.