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KUALA LUMPUR: The Foreign Ministry has apologised to the Dewan Rakyat for its deputy minister’s statement on Pulau Batu Puteh (Pedra Branca) that was deemed to have confused and misled the House.
Its minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah said he believed his deputy Datuk Marzuki Yahya had not intended to cause any confusion over the status of the tiny disputed island.
On July 2, when responding to questions from the opposition, Marzuki had said that the country would submit a judicial review to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on its judgement, which saw the rocky outcrop awarded to Singapore in 2008.
However, a day later in an interview with Bernama, he clarified that what he meant was Malaysia would respect and implement ICJ’s judgement in the matter of the sovereignty of the isle, and not to stake claim for it.
Marzuki had also said the government would continue its discussion with its counterparts in Singapore on the implementation of ICJ’s ruling. — Bernama
