Barisan Nasional secretary-general Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad has denied rumours that Dr Mahathir Mohamad has not been invited for next weekend's Merdeka celebrations.

"I don't see a reason why that (not inviting Mahathir) has to be done," he said in a Sin Chew Daily yesterday.

Radzi added that the BN and Umno does not forget the contributions of its past leaders.

Citing the example of Umno founder-turn-opponent Onn Jaafar, Radzi said the party still honoured him as the 'father of the party'.

Mahathir has been locked in a highly publicised spat with his handpicked successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi over the latter's policies and alleged malpractices.

On Aug 31, Abdullah will make his Merdeka address when celebrations commemorating the 50th anniversary of independence culminate in a national- level parade at the historic Dataran Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur.

'Dr M won't miss parade'

Contacted by malaysiakini today, Mahathir's aide Suffi Yusoff expressed surprise over the reported rumour.

He said Mahathir had thus far received four official invitations from the organising committee of the national level Merdeka celebrations to attend various functions including the parade.

"He will decide which function to attend, but I believe he will not miss the parade," Suffi added.

According to wire reports last week, Mahathir chose to snub an invitation to the official launch of Proton's new model in favour of a private function where he rallied bloggers to speak out against Abdullah.

However his aide Sufi denied this, saying that the ex-premier could not attend the Proton function as he had already made other committments.

He said the Proton function invitation arrived too late for Mahathir to alter his schedule.

Mahathir, who established Proton during his 22-year rule as prime minister, is presently Proton adviser.

The last time Mahathir was spotted at a Merdeka-day parade was in Putrajaya in 2005 which saw him being emotionally embraced by International Trade and Industry Minister Rafidah Aziz.