Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad today described the late Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah as "a very good man" whom he misses dearly.

"I am very much saddened, he had been a good friend and we worked very close. We didn't expect him to go so fast," said the premier.

"I miss him a lot," he told reporters after announcing the King's demise on a nationwide telecast at the information ministry headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

Mahathir also said he remembered the King as a person who was dedicated to his duties.

"He had been very active as the Agong. He visited various places, departments and ministries almost every day.

"I know he was not very well but he insisted that he should perform his duties as the Agong. He was a very good man," said Mahathir who was visibly distraught.

Last respects

The late King was born in 1926 and received his early education at the Malay College of Kuala Kangsar before furthering his studies at the University of London.

In 1960, he was made the ruler of Selangor after his father passed away while serving a five-year term as the Agong.

The father of four sons and six daughters, Sultan Salahuddin was crowned Malaysia's King on April 26, 1999.

The remains of the 75-year-old monarch who passed away at the Gleneagles Intan Medical Centre in Kuala Lumpur at 11.57am was later taken to the Selangor Palace in Shah Alam.

Tomorrow, the remains will be taken to the National Mosque where a prayer session will be held in the morning.

The public and luminaries can pay their last respects to the late King after that at the Istana Negara before the remains is returned to the Istana Alam Shah in Klang. The King will be laid to rest at the Royal Mausoleum there.

New king

Mahathir said the new King will be chosen by the Conference of Rulers within the next four weeks.

"Until the new Agong is elected by the Conference of Rulers, the present deputy Agong will be the acting King," he said.

The ruler of Terengganu, Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin, has taken over as the acting Agong since early October when Sultan Salahuddin was hospitalised in Singapore after undergoing a cardiac surgery.