Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy has agreed to a meeting with Perlis mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin to sort out their disagreement about Muslim preacher Zakir Naik.

Ramasamy said the meeting was initiated by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mujahid Yusof Rawa, who oversees the Islamic affairs portfolio.

"I have agreed. The meeting is not with Zakir, but with the mufti," Ramasamy told Malaysiakini, adding a date has not yet been fixed.

Malaysiakini has contacted Mujahid over the meeting and is awaiting his response.

Ramasamy and Asri have been at loggerheads following photos of the former paying homage to an image of an AK-47 assault rifle, which went viral on social media recently.

Asri challenged Ramasamy to a debate with Zakir on the topic of "Who is the real terrorist?" to which Ramasamy clarified that he was merely paying respect to victims of genocide at a memorial service organised by an NGO in Butterworth, Penang, in 2015.

Zakir (below), who has denied charges by India that he was involved in money laundering activities and had incited religious violence, was last year granted permanent residence status by Malaysia.

Meanwhile, Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said Ramasamy has clarified his purported involvement with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

"He has clarified the matter many times, he has shown me the appreciation message from Acheh where he was involved in peace talks involving the Free Acheh Movement," Chow told reporters at a press conference in Komtar today.

In a press statement today, Ramasamy said claims by several individuals that he supported violence with his involvement with LTTE were "irresponsible and false".

"The claims were purposely made due to my statements about Zakir," Ramasamy said.

He said the allegations also surfaced due to his participation in the peace talks between LTTE and Sri Lanka.

"Although my statements about Zakir were based on facts, there are several quarters which have twisted the issue to shift the focus of the people," he said.

International peace talks

Ramasamy said that as an academic for 24 years with Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (1981 to 2005), he had worked as a research fellow and served as a professor with several well-established universities overseas.

Ramasamy also won the Batu Kawan parliamentary and Prai state seat in the recent general election and was appointed deputy chief minister (II) by former chief minister Lim Guan Eng.

Ramasamy's said his field of expertise was political economy with a special focus on international conflict management.

He has participated in peace talks in Colombia, South America, Sri Lanka, Aceh, Indonesia and Mindanao and the Philippines.

"I was invited to take part in the peace talks based on my knowledge in international politics and conflict management," Ramasamy said.

Ramasamy said his involvement with Sri Lanka begun when he was invited to become a panel member of the country's constitutional affairs committee.

Members of the committee included university representatives, international organisations and LTTE members. Norway mediated in the process to seek peace in Sri Lanka in 2003.

"However, the peace efforts did not materialise and war continued until LTTE was abolished completely in May 2009," said Ramasamy.