The temperature in the Selangor state assembly went up a few notches today over a French daily's report which linked Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to murdered Mongolian national Altantunya Shaariibuu.

azmin ali PKR vice-president Azmin Ali, who is also the Bukit Antarabangsa representative, had attempted to read out the report by the Liberation newspaper in the House.

Last week, the daily had featured a report which alleged that Najib had met Altantunya in a private club in Paris.

Before this, the PKR leader was speaking on the issue of security and rising crime rate in the state when debating the royal address.

High-profile cases, such as that involving Altantunya, are also happening in this state, he added.

altantuya murder case publish on french newspaper la liberation 050309 At this point, Satim Diman (BN-Seri Serdang) objected, saying that the case is being heard in court and therefore Azmin should not raise it.

However, the PKR leader disagreed, arguing that the trial had ended and is pending judgment.

Azmin then sought permission from deputy speaker Haniza Mohd Talha to read out the Liberation report in the House.

Once again, Satim protested and this lead the PKR leader to accuse the former of being a "budak suruhan" (messenger boy) for state opposition leader Dr Mohd Khir Toyo.

An infuriated Satim then demanded that Azmin retract his statement but the PKR leader refused and reiterated his accusation.

"Take it back, it is a wild assumption," said the BN rep.

The PKR leader shot back: "It is not an accusation, I am certain of it."

This opened the way for a war of words between the duo, forcing Haniza to intervene and calm the situation.

Disneyland trip

Earlier, Azmin had alleged that the defunct Badan Amal dan Kebajikan Isteri-isteri Selangor (Balkis), a charity organisation comprising wives of the previous menteri besar and BN state reps, had used the funds of state investment arm Syarikat Permodalan Negeri Selangor for a 'technical visit' to the Tokyo and Hong Kong Disneyland.

The PKR leader said he could accept it if the members of Balkis had made a 'technical visit' to the industrial areas in Tokyo and Europe, but not to Disneyland.

"Is it beneficial to go to Tokyo (Disneyland)? Report the findings to the House, maybe we can bring Disneyland to Sungai Panjang," he quipped.

Stressing that it was not a false allegation, Azmin added that he is willing to be hauled to court over this.

Last December, the Pakatan Rakyat state government had said it would hold a public inquiry into the contributions from six government-linked companies to Balkis but this has yet to take place.

According to the state's select committee on competency, accountability and transparency, initial investigations have revealed that there are "several cases which require further investigations".