Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak today claimed the revival of the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder is part of a foreign plot to topple him, similar to the toppling of Iraq's Saddam Hussein.

He pointed out that Saddam was ousted by the United States based on false claims that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction.

"Now look at Iraq today. They had no proof and yet they invaded the country.

"Now the Americans have regretted their actions and the Bush name can no longer be accepted," he was quoted as saying by The Star Online .

Najib, who delivered his speech for the opening of the Pekan Umno division meeting, claimed that the foreign media had a hand in this alleged conspiracy to topple the country's leadership.

The conspiracy, he said, involved "top to the bottom and inside and outside the country".

"There are no photographs, there is no evidence and there are no SMSes, and it has emerged again.

"This case has already sunk for so many years and now it floats again," he was quoted as saying.

Najib also reiterated that he had never met Altantuya and that his predecessor would not have allowed him to become prime minister if this was true.

Yesterday, Al Jazeera's 101 East current affairs programme revived claims that Najib was linked to the 2006 Altantuya murder.

The murder remains a mystery as the motive was never established.

Two of then deputy prime minister Najib's bodyguards were convicted for the murder.

Azilah Hadri is awaiting death sentence while Sirul Umar Azhar has fled to Australia.

The documentary claimed that Sirul was trying to bargain with those in power over what he knows and he had publicly said he was following orders from his superiors. He, however, refused to reveal who made the order.

Najib's associate Abdul Razak Baginda was also charged for abetting murder but was acquitted in 2008. There was no appeal.

Najib has vehemently denied any links to the murder.