MANILA - The Philippines today ruled out an apology being demanded by Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad over a diplomatic spat involving the alleged rape of a 13-year-old girl.

The girl had claimed she had been raped at a detention centre in Sabah before being deported along with thousands of Filipinos in a crack down against illegal migrants.

Manila had filed a diplomatic protest over the incident, which sparked outrage in the Philippines.

Mahathir earlier today said the Philippines owed his government an apology after Malaysian police found the girl was not Filipina but a Malaysian citizen who was wrongly deported.

"We don't see the need for that. The Philippines took up the cudgels for a rape victim, a minor at that. Now, are we to be faulted for that?" foreign affairs spokesman Victoriano Lecaros said.

'You should've done it'

"If she is indeed a citizen of Malaysia then that country should have been the one that's taking up the cudgels for that girl," Lecaros said.

Lecaros said it was unlikely Malaysian authorities would make a mistake in placing the girl in the detention center if she were not a Filipina.

Mahathir said the Philippines should be more cautious in making statements that could affect bilateral ties between the neighbors.

"I think they should (apologise). They jumped to the conclusion that we rape people," Mahathir told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.

"You have to be a little bit more sensitive and a little bit more cautious in making statements that can lead to souring of relations between countries."

Malaysia earlier dispatched a three-member probe team to Manila to interview the girl, who has identified three guards in the detention center as her attackers.

The premier said it was not unusual that the girl was wrongly deported because "she was found among them, she was wandering around without any address."

He said further investigation was necessary to ensure the girl was not lying. AFP