After being tightlipped for nearly a month on the charge that it had an ex-Israeli agent on its payroll, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) has replied saying it does not hire people with 'questionable background'.

Responding to the accusation by Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) vice-president Mohd Azmin Ali, the national carrier said in a statement that it vets those hired by consultancy agencies it has engaged.

"If it is established at any point of the time that a consultant firm's staff is/are not suitable for the interests of MAS and the country, we will decline the services of such personnel.

"At this point of time, we do not have persons with such profiles directly on MAS payroll or working on any of the projects for which we have engaged consultancy services," it added, without making any specific references.

On Dec 24, Azmin claimed that MAS had hired a former Israeli military intelligence officer, whom he later revealed as Ron Chernin, 41.

The PKR leader had obtained specific documents to back his claim, including a visit pass application by Chernin dated Dec 6, 2005, which was allegedly sponsored by the airline's IT operations assistant general manager Faridah Abdul Rahman.

According to the documents, Chernin was a French national but was born in the industrial city of Haifa in Israel. His Curriculum Vitae indicated that he had served as a lieutenant in the military intelligence unit of Israel's defence forces between 1983 and 1988.

Short-term basis

Azmin also exposed documents that revealed MAS paid several consultants 'astronomical' salaries. This included an Australian consultant who was paid RM4,400 per day - or about RM100,000 a month.

Responding the consultancy services, MAS said these were engaged on short-term basis and for specific projects related to essential restructuring and turnaround plans of the company.

"The consultancy personnel work alongside MAS staff, operating under precise briefing conditions, including the effective implementation of knowledge and necessary skills transfer to staff," it added in the statement.

In a related development, Deputy Internal Security Minister Chia Kwang Chye when met over the weekend said Azmin should lodge a report so that the authorities could investigate his claims.

Previously, Deputy Home Minister Tan Chai Ho said if there was an Israeli agent hired by MAS than it must be an 'exceptional case' and the approval must have come from the top.

However Azmin said he would not a lodge a police report for the time being and sarcastically added that this was to allow the police to complete its probes into all the reports lodged by his party since 1998.

The financially-troubled MAS has been in the spotlight over a series controversies.