Veteran opposition lawmaker Lim Kit Siang has warned that key witnesses in the 1985 Memali incident are aging and the window to quiz them for facts is narrowing.

Those in key positions at the material time, according to Lim, were: Dr Mahathir Mohamad (prime minister), Musa Hitam (deputy premier), Hanif Omar (IGP), Mohd Amin Osman (acting IGP), Rais Yatim (information minister), Radzi Sheikh Ahmad (deputy information minister), Tunku Muszaffar Shah (Baling police chief) and Ibrahim Libya follower Muhammad Yusof Husin.

Lim said that these are the inidividuals which should be called as witnesses for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Memali incident.

The Memali incident refers to an assault by 200 police personnel on a village occupied by Ibrahim Mahmud (better known as Ibrahim Libya) and his followers in Baling, Kedah.

Police were attempting to arrest Ibrahim but a standoff ensued, resulting in 18 deaths, including four police personnel.

The issue remains a contentious one today due to Ibrahim's links with PAS, who rejects the government version of events in the White Paper tabled in Parliament in 1986.

Renewed debate on the facts surrounding the Memali incident was reignited after Musa recently claimed that Mahathir was in Malaysia at the time and not on an official trip to China.

Asked to comment on this last Saturday, Mahathir said he would have to check as he could not remember off-hand.

Musa's claim has now cast doubts on who was actually in charge at the time. It has been widely presumed that Musa, as home minister, had ordered Ibrahim's arrest.

PAS: Withdraw White Paper

Meanwhile, PAS has urged the federal government to withdraw the White Paper and initiate fresh investigations, in view of Musa's claim.

PAS information chief Mahfuz Omar, who is incidently an MP in Kedah, said that the White Paper had absolved Mahathir of any involvement, claiming that he was in China at the time.

Mahfuz said Musa's claims had raised doubt about the veracity of the White Paper and urged Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to look into a possible government cover-up of the raid.

"It is scripted. Based on what Musa said, it is as if (Mahathir) had full knowledge.

"I see this as a conspiracy that needs to be explained by the government," Mahfuz told reporters in the Parliament lobby today.

"This creates fresh doubts about the White Paper presented to Parliament in 1986.”

He said the onus is also on the government to investigate if the National Fatwa Council, Kedah Fatwa Council and the sultan of Kedah had wrongly declared the incident as bughah - an armed revolt by Muslims against a just ruler.

He said they could have been duped if the government had been involved in a conspiracy against the sect that has only now been brought to light.

Mahfuz said the matter can only be put to rest if Mahathir states once more that he was abroad during the incident and calls Musa a liar.

His demand was backed by two other PAS parliamentarians - Hatta Ramli (Kuala Krai) and Nasrudin Hassan (Temerloh).

Related: Ex-OCPD: Bukit Aman made poor decisions in Memali