Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak said the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) cannot convince Malaysians if it does not reveal the sources of its stories.

He said this after the WSJ yesterday published a report claiming that investigators are looking into Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's stepson Riza Aziz's purchase of a RM137 million property in London as part of the 1MDB probe.

"Not once has a name been provided for these sources. If they actually exist, then why doesn't the WSJ tell Malaysians who they are?

"Otherwise how can they expect anything they write to be believed, after being proved wrong so many times.

“But we know they won't provide names, because they can't.

"The truth is that their reporting is based at best on rumours, and at worst on politically motivated lies that they've accepted without proper verification, just for the sake of another sensational headline," he said in a blog posting yesterday.

The WSJ and Sarawak Report were the first to report on the RM2.6 billion deposited into Najib's personal bank accounts in July last year, claiming that they were linked to 1MDB.

Najib had denied the funds he received had anything to do with 1MDB and said he had never taken public funds for personal gain.

The publications have continued to report on various investigations into the 1MDB matter in several countries, based on sources as investigations have not been made public.

Salleh claimed WSJ’s allegations are false and the attribution to anonymous sources is an act of cowardice.

"Despite their anonymous sources being proven wrong time and time again, such as their false reports on the new governor of Bank Negara Malaysia, the WSJ continues to make allegations without any evidence.

It is no coincidence that all the WSJ's reporting on Malaysia since (former premier) Dr Mahathir Mohamad began his anti-Najib campaign is based on one thing: what they claim anonymous sources and anonymous investigators say," he said.