Keadilan supreme council members Mohd Azmin Ali and N Gobalakrishnan today denied ever having flung saucers at each other during a heated argument at a party meeting held on Monday night.

In a statement issued today following a front-page report of their squabble in The Sun, the duo claimed that the daily had sensationalised their dispute.

"We admitted that there was a war of words between us, but it did not affect our relationship as comrades-in-arm, and we definitely did not insult any party or race," they said in a joint statement sent to the media today.

"The report about the flying saucer was misleading as no food or drink was served during the meeting, which lasted from 8pm to 2am. Furthermore, we were sitting side by side during the meeting."

The paper reported that at Monday's supreme council meeting, Azmin and Gobalakrishnan had clashed over the selection of delegates to the party's general assembly this weekend.

It also claimed that Azmin uttered the word "pariah" as well as a racial slur at Gobalakrishnan, followed by an exchange of heated words between the two.

Situation defused

Azmin, who is the Hulu Kelang assemblyman, and Gobalakrishnan, who is the party deputy youth chief, said they shook hands and apologised to each other after party president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail managed to defray the situation.

Keadilan is scheduled to hold its first party election from Nov 9 to Nov 11 in Kemaman, Terengganu.

Both Azmin and Gobalakrishnan are among six candidates nominated for the three hotly contested vice-president posts.

However, Gobalakrishnan said that he had decided to pull out from the race.

Apparently, he was unhappy that some of the delegates to the party's AGM, believed to be his supporters, were disqualified by the supreme council.