The elusive Ahmad Ismail, the man at the centre of a 'racial slur' controversy, said today he would not apologise even after the deputy prime minister has already done so on his behalf.

ahmad ismail umno bukit bendera The Bukit Bendera Umno division chief added that he did not feel sorry and would not recant his alleged racist remarks against Chinese Malaysians during the recent by-election campaign in Permatang Pauh.

“I am not apologetic because I didn’t do anything wrong,” the Umno division leader from Penang told Malaysiakini via telephone today.

This is Ahmad's first public statement since the controversy erupted last week.

Arguing that ‘one is innocent until proven guilty’, the Bukit Bendera Umno leader decried the public trial on the issue conducted by certain quarters, including the media.

“As far as I am concerned, I did not say or do anything wrong. So why should I apologise?” said the local Umno strongman, who promised to give a full statement at a specially-arranged press conference in Penang this Saturday.

The press conference at the Penang Umno building would be held after a state liaison committee meeting chaired by party president and Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Meanwhile, Star Online reported that Abdullah had been unable to reach Ahmad.

"I have been trying to get Ahmad but have not managed to contact him. I know the journalists have been trying to contact him," he was quoted as saying.

" Insyallah , we'll get him. Where can he escape to? When I go to Penang, I will surely see him," said the prime minister.

Ahmad, in refuting claims that he was a “racist”, said he had been friends with many Chinese and Indian Malaysians since his childhood.

“I have never been racist and will never be. It is rubbish to suggest that I am a racist,” blasted Ahmad, who sounded calm and in good spirit despite the storm swirling around him.

During a Barisan Nasional by-election rally in Kampung Belah Dua on Aug 25, Ahmad was accused to have uttered seditious remarks describing the Chinese as “immigrants squatting in the country, thus were not entitled to equal rights in Malaysia”.

The former municipal councillor also questioned the Chinese community’s willingness to share their wealth with other races.

Ahmad: I didn’t run away

Ahmad also took a swipe at media reports claiming that he had been evading journalists and photographers, who had camped outside the Central Seberang Perai (SPT) district police headquarters in Bandar Baru Perda over the past two days after he was summoned by the police as part of their investigation on the matter.

He said it was palpably wrong for newspapers to accuse him of avoiding them when he did not “invite, inform or call them to camp outside the SPT police headquarters”.

“I did not ask them to wait. So why is it they accuse me of running away from them?” he asked.

penang dapsy lodge report against ahmad ismail 10908.jpg Ahmad has given his statement at the state police headquarters in Georgetown last night, following a series of police reports lodged against him in Penang ( left ), Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh, Seremban, Malacca and Petaling Jaya by Chinese-based political parties, including MCA, Gerakan and DAP.

The case is being investigated under Section 4(1)(B) of the Sedition Act 1948, which carries a fine not exceeding RM5,000 or a minimum three years’ jail, or both upon conviction.

Penang police crime investigation department chief SAC II Wan Abdullah Tuanku Said said the embattled Umno leader was cooperative and the recording of his statement went without hitches.

With Ahmad's statement, police have since wrapped up their probe and will submit their investigation papers to the Attorney-General’s Chambers for further action, if any.

Failed to return RM500,000

Ahmad's alleged remarks sparked a nationwide furore forcing Deputy Prime Minister and Umno deputy president Najib Abdul Razak to make an open apology to the minority community.

Despite Najib’s overture, many are still demanding Ahmad to personally apologise for his alleged remarks, and not through an intermediary.

However, the influential local Umno leader’s defiance today is set to galvanise the Chinese community to another round of outrage.

On the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) police report on Wednesday against defunct company, Popular Profile Sdn Bhd, formerly under his directorship, Ahmad said the police have yet to contact him over the matter.

Lodged by the company’s legal advisor Zainon Abdul Rahman in Bayan Lepas police station, PDC alleged that the company had failed to return RM500,000 to the state government following a botched land deal in 1998.

Ahmad promise to extend his full cooperation with the police on the issue.