KUALA LUMPUR, April 15 ― The Foreign Affairs Ministry said today it has identified the person in the leaked audio clip who alleged friction between its minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
The individual identified from the audio clip was purportedly the one that made the recording, the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry also denied that Ismail Sabri and Saifuddin are not on good terms.
“Based on the evidence by and testimonies of several witnesses, the Foreign Affairs’ Internal Investigation Committee has managed to identify the person suspected of making the recording that carried the baseless allegations with regards to the Foreign Affairs Minister,” it said.
“Following up on that, the said individual was called in to assist the investigation and had admitted fully to have secretly made the audio clip recording,” it added.
News reports suggest the person in the audio clip was heard complaining to a “Datin” about problems within the ministry and alluded to “a growing number” of vacancies at Malaysian missions abroad.
The ministry said the individual that was identified as a “Datin” in the clip is a former aide to the foreign affairs minister “before the Pakatan Harapan or Perikatan Nasional.”
A police report was filed on April 11 seeking the police to probe the matter.
Wisma Putra said it would share the findings of its internal investigation team to the authorities since the issue also involves people outside their ministry.
