Three DAP leaders have denied attending any meeting with Pakatan Rakyat leaders on July 9 to discuss the 'demonstration' that was purportedly scheduled to be held yesterday.

Party adviser Lim Kit Siang, secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and vice-chairperson Dr Tan Seng Giaw have demanded a retraction from Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar who was quoted in Star as saying that they had attended the meeting.

lim guan eng and dap “On July 9, none of the DAP leaders were in the PKR headquarters (in Petaling Jaya, for the alleged meeting). (Syed Hamid) said that if his intelligence is not true, he is willing to withdraw his statement,” Guan Eng said at a press conference in the Parliament lobby.

“We are demanding that he withdraws his statement because it is false, it is untrue, complete fabrication, complete lie.”

Guan Eng said he had been in Penang all day on July 9, making preparations for the governor’s birthday.

“In fact we have not stepped into the new PKR headquarters. It shows that the intelligence department is not reliable. They can give false information, so perhaps they can be charged under the Printing Presses and Publications Act for spreading false news.”

tan seng giaw 120507 Tan (right) said he had been in parliament in the morning and had then visited to his constituency in the evening.

Kit Siang, when asked his whereabouts, replied: “Ask Syed Hamid to ask me if he dares and I’ll give him my alibi.”

He also said the minister should call for an inquiry into the tightened security and roadblocks in and around Kuala Lumpur yesterday. While this was apparently a bid to prevent protesters from gathering around Parliament House, there was no such rally.

During Question time in the Dewan Rakyat, Guan Eng (DAP-Bagan) had asked Syed Hamid what appropriate actions could be initiated if lies are spread using the print media, making direct reference to the Star report.

The minister replied that his statement was based on “intelligence reports”.

n gobalakrishnan However, there was chaos when N Gobalakrishnan (PKR-Padang Serai, right ) called Syed Hamid a "liar".

Parliamentarians from sides added to the commotion, leaving deputy speaker Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar clearly unimpressed.

He issued a warning to MPs to use “acceptable words” and to refrain from unparliamentary language.

‘Information was credible’

In an immediate reaction to the DAP leaders’ comments, Syed Hamid said he believed that his information was credible and had acted on it.

syed hamid albar parliament pc 150708 “The information I received, as far as I was told, is true. So, I take it to be true. I will cross-check if the information is wrong, I will make sure that I will get good info,” he said, but insisted he would not retract his statement.

“If they seek an apology properly, then I will apologise properly. If they shout and call names, then it is a bit difficult.”

He revealed that the credible information on the alleged meeting was from an insider and tip-offs from text-messages and blog-posts.

“I did not say that we shouldn't act on SMSes. We had used this during the election (campaign). We have to act on all sorts of things, the police cannot wait for events to happen. The police must make sure that public order is maintained and they have done that.

“They have created some inconvenience but everybody is happy, they can go about parliament, there was no demo, so I think we should go on with our lives.”

Yesterday, traffic in Kuala Lumpur was reduced to a crawl after police set up roadblocks to bar the public from entering Parliament House.

Watch a 5-min video of DAP's press conference in Parliament .