Umno supreme council member Annuar Musa admitted receiving a copy of a letter purportedly written by a deputy division chief who made new allegations on money politics involving, among others, one of the party's vice president and six supreme council members.

He told malaysiakini in a telephone interview yesterday that he received a copy of the letter - which was attributed to Kuala Krai deputy division chief Sayed Mohd Ali Saipuddin Sayed Yaacob - at the last supreme council meeting in June.

However, he said there was no need for the supreme council to either mention or discuss the letter as the allegations were made after the April 18 deadline for submission of complaints on money politics in Umno.

"Yes, I am aware of the letter. I received it at the last supreme council meeting. It was not relevant because the deadline was already over then. So the letter was of no effect."

"No, I don't know who sent the letter. It was already there on the table when I got there. I am sorry. That's all I have to say." Annuar added.

Yesterday, it was reported that the letter which revealed that Umno's highest ranked vice- president Mohd Isa Abdul Samad - who was suspended six years for buying votes in the last party election - is among many top leaders who allegedly resorted to money politics.

Apart from another vice-president and six supreme council members, it named eight other losing candidates who ran for the vice-presidency and supreme council posts and made specific claims about the amounts allegedly paid to delegates and listed the names of 'witnesses'.

Sayed Mohd Ali had admitted that he had written a letter to Umno president Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on June 27 but declined to confirm whether the letter obtained by malaysiakini was the same one.

Suspicious motives

Meanwhile, another supreme council member who had received a copy of the letter was Shahrir Abdul Samad.

He said that he only got it through the postal services last week - about three weeks after Annuar had received it - and was therefore unable to raise it at the last Umno meeting.

"I have not given serious thought on the letter just yet as I am quite busy with other pressing issues at the moment. But of course I am not suggesting that this is not a serious matter. It is a serious matter for anybody to write (complaints of money politics) after the deadline," he said.

He said the timing of the letter gives rise to suspicion on the writer's motives.

"As a party leader, you are well aware of the deadline to lodge the complaint. So why are you doing it now? The issue should have been raised earlier. Is it after Mohd Isa was punished that you are raising it? That was the first question that came to my mind after reading it," he said.

"If you are so serious and sincere (to report money politics) why not complain immediately after you received the money and when you got all the time to do it well before the deadline."

He said if the writer's intention - which was to seek a clear guideline to solve the thorny issue of corruption within Umno - was to be believed, there would be no need to mention names as what had been done.

"The intention sounds reasonable but why reveal all those names because you would only bring disrepute to them. And then you distribute the letters. So why are you doing this?"

He added that all these questions will have to be considered in the event the matter is discussed at the next supreme council meeting.

Umno 2004 poll results