Based on his tweets yesterday, Ahmad said he was misquoted by the press, specifically online news portal Free Malaysia Today (FMT) and My Times.
The deputy minister said that he only mentioned the Saudi prince as an example.
“I wish to refer to the FMT and My Times report claiming that Al Waleed bin Talal (photo) gave RM2.6b. The Kota Kinabalu source quoted is wrong.
“I was merely giving an example by referring to the fact that the Saudi Prince announced that he wished to donate RM120b beginning 1/7/15. I did not say that it was he who gave the donation to the prime minister.
“The example was given because there are people who are asking who would donate RM2.6b. Well, it seems that there are people prepared to donate even RM120b," he said in a series of tweets after the reports were published yesterday.
FMT took down the incorrect article
FMT in its report yesterday said Ahmad had, when speaking at a seminar and dialogue session in Kota Kinabalu, identified Al-Waleed as being the donor.
The portal then took down the incorrect article shortly after Ahmad clarified his statement.
"Following the denial by the Deputy Minister, and upon realising that we had misinterpreted his remarks, we took down the incorrect article.
"We sincerely and unconditionally apologise to both the prince and the deputy minister and our readers for the incorrect reporting," the portal's managing editor said.
The identity of the donor behind the controversial RM2.6 billion donation is still a mystery.
PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said yesterday that the matter remained a mystery such that Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi dared not respond to former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s challenge to reveal the identity of the purported donor.
“If the donor is so willing to donate RM2.6 billion to Najib, why isn’t the person willing to (come forward to) clear Najib’s name?
“Is it true then, that Mahathir’s claim the money actually belongs to 1MDB?” Tuan Ibrahim asked.
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