Despite Inside al-Qaeda author Rohan Gunaratna's denial that he had implicated Barisan Nasional to links through the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to al-Qaeda, there seems a never-ending circus of personalising and threatening the author with all kinds of retribution.

I have not read the book, but from what I can discern from everything that has been said, it would seem that his reference to linkages was to individuals who may have been BN members through one of its component parties.

Alternately, it was not necessarily PAS, but it was a reference to PAS members who may have maintained a link. That in no way implicates the BN or PAS. If the UN report had erroneously reported otherwise, it would be the UN which would need to be vilified and corrected and I cannot see any reason for Rohan to apologise or withdraw anything.

However, if the the BN and PAS would rather choose to believe otherwise and wish to continue to harbour ill will against Gunaratna because of the stand that any such accusation against a member would be as good as implicating the party, then I would like to remind BN and PAS that position can easily be applied to other events and actions at other times.

Just consider the situation where someone accuses BN for running a money-smuggling gang just because one of its senior members was caught carrying a large amount of money into Australia. Or accuse BN of statutory rape of a minor because one of its senior members to this day stands accused in the court of public opinion?

Should BN's assumptions that Gunaratna's linking individuals within the party is a tantamount to him implicating the BN in its entirety also hold true to the other two occasions cited?

Perhaps the BN and its propaganda machinery should back off and consider its next move. In the meantime, I think an apology to Rohan would be appropriate.