Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar yesterday said ties with Saudi Arabia had not been hurt by a recent newspaper article which angered Riyadh.

Syed Hamid said the Saudi government understood the article was the personal view of the editor and did not reflect the official position of Malaysia.

"As such, the Saudi government does not regard the article as offensive," he was quoted as saying by Bernama news agency.

The editor of the government-linked New Straits Times, Abdullah Ahmad, 66, was sacked last Friday following the publication of the article in the newspaper.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has said the article caused offence to the governments of Saudi Arabia and some Gulf countries.

Remove authoritarian regimes

In his Nov 12 article entitled "Freeing the Prophet's Land", editor Abdullah called for the removal of authoritarian regimes in Muslim countries.

"Until authoritarian regimes everywhere are utterly destroyed and give way to a new Islamic order; the fortunes of the ummah (Muslim community) will never rise," he said in the article.

Syed Hamid said he would be visiting Saudi soon to discuss issues of mutual interest.

Abdullah held the post of group editor-in-chief of the New Straits Times Press for two years and his contract was due to expire in October next year.

The New Straits Times is Malaysia's oldest English-language newspaper and is closely tied to the ruling United Malays National Organisation party, through its ownership by companies controlled by the party. - AFP