Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said he had been informed by his son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin about his decision to sell his stake in high-profile financial company ECM Libra Avenue.

"It's his right. The shares are his, not mine," Abdullah was quoted as saying yesterday by Bernama.

Khairy had sold his RM9.2 million worth of shares in the financial company after ex-prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad suggested he had obtained them through nepotism.

According to Khairy, he had incurred a loss of RM200,000 from selling the shares - at 62 sen per share when he had bought them for 71 sen per share - so as to keep the company from being dogged by his presence as a shareholder.

Meanwhile, a minister had claimed that Mahathir was out to topple his handpicked successor Abdullah as fears grow over divisions in the ruling Umno party.

Influential cabinet minister Nazri Abdul Aziz, citing information he had gleaned from Mahathir's conversations with friends, said the ex-premier was working to unseat Abdullah.

"If he continues his actions to destroy Umno, to bring down the president, I will be at the forefront as a warrior to defend the party," Nazri was quoted as saying yesterday in the New Straits Times.

Nearly 200 Umno divisions are currently holding their annual meetings nationwide and the dispute between the two has featured high on the agenda.

Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak yesterday insisted there were no serious party rifts and that no one could easily overthrow Abdullah, who last week went on national television to deny Mahathir's claims of corruption and nepotism.

"His position is not easily threatened by anyone," Najib was quoted as saying by the state Bernama news agency.

"Many assumptions can be made but what is important is that all quarters give their full and unequivocal support for Abdullah as Umno president and prime minister," he said.

Growing strife

The row has led to worries amongst Umno members of growing strife within the party, and concerns that opposition parties will capitalise on the bitter public dispute.

Umno's secretary-general Mohamad Radzi Sheikh Ahmad over the weekend warned the quarrel could affect the outcome of the next general election due by 2009.

"We will not be able to face the election confidently if our leadership is not stable. I pray (Mahathir and Abdullah) will find a way to resolve this issue," he was quoted as saying by Bernama.

Mahathir, 81, has vowed to continue his attacks on a number of government policies, including the scrapping of plans for a bridge to Singapore, as well as alleged nepotism in business dealings by some of Abdullah's family members.

Mahathir, who was prime minister from 1981-2003, on Saturday denied he was causing divisions within the party or that he wanted to see Abdullah step down.

"That is for Umno to decide, not for me to decide," he told reporters.

Mahathir also began circulating a letter to some three million Umno members alleging the party's leadership was stifling him by pressuring Umno groups to cancel his party speaking engagements.