PUTRAJAYA: A witness told the High Court here that Datuk Seri Najib Razak was excited when the Saudi monarch decided to provide financial assistance to Malaysia.
Former Malaysian ambassador to Saudi Arabia Prof Datuk Syed Omar Al-Saggaf, 81, testified that Najib had told him about the donation after the former prime minister attended a meeting with the late King Abdullah Abdulaziz Al Saud in Riyadh on Jan 11, 2010.
During examination-in-chief by Najib’s lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, Syed Omar said the closed-door meeting was held at King Abdullah’s palace a day before Najib began his official visit to Saudi Arabia.
The witness said King Abdullah, Najib, and the then minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom, had separated themselves and moved to the centre of the room after the meeting concluded.
Muhammad Shafee: How were you informed about King Abdullah’s offer of financial assistance to Najib?
Syed Omar: I was personally informed by Najib immediately after the meeting ended, as we were on our way out of the meeting hall towards the Malaysian delegation’s vehicles.
Syed Omar said in the meeting, both sides discussed several issues, such as the haj pilgrim quota and financial assistance from Saudi Arabia to Malaysia.
“King Abdullah, during the meeting, had pledged his support to the then Malaysian Federal Government as he was awed by our social harmony.
“The social situation in Saudi Arabia was not that good at that time due to clashes between different sects in the country,” Syed Omar said.
When cross-examined by deputy public prosecutor Kamal Baharin Omar, Syed Omar, however, said he did not know the kind of “financial assistance” Najib was referring to.
On Oct 30 last year, Najib was ordered by the High Court to enter his defence on four counts of using his position to obtain RM2.28bil gratification from 1Malaysia Development Bhd’s (1MDB) funds and 21 counts of money laundering involving the same amount.
The hearing before Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues tomorrow.
