KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has claimed that he has “credible information” that Pas paid RM1 million to Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle Brown.
Anwar said PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang paid more than RM1 million to Sarawak Report to settle his civil suit against the website.
It was reported that Hadi had reached an out of court settlement with Rewcastle Brown to settle the suit, which the former had filed after the website accused Pas of receiving RM90 million from Umno in the run-up to the 14th General Election (GE14).
Anwar, who is PKR president, said he would reveal more about the settlement which Hadi had reached at a ceramah in Semenyih tonight.
"I don’t think Pas will be able to deny it...I have enough information to prove that PAS paid (Sarawak Report editor) Clare Rewcastle-Brown.
"I will explain this in detail in Semenyih," he told reporters here earlier today.
Yesterday, PAS secretary general Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan denied that Hadi paid the sum as part of an out-of-court settlement with Rewcastle Brown earlier this month.
Hadi had sued Rewcastle Brown in London over a 2016 Sarawak Report article claiming that former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had channelled RM90 million to top PAS leaders in a bid for support ahead of GE14.
However, both parties agreed to settle the suit earlier this month and keep the conditions confidential.
On claims that there were attempts to oust Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Anwar said such controversy had been created by Hadi as an attempt to create a rift between him (Anwar) and the Prime Minister.
Anwar said he had always chosen to refrain from attacking Pas but could no longer hold back when the Islamist party started attacking him over the past two to three years and attempted to create a rift between him and Dr Mahathir.
He said Hadi had now started spreading the rumour of a plot to topple Dr Mahathir.
"I have discussed with all the leaders in Pakatan Harapan...no one has heard of such a plan. We are bound by an agreement to support Dr Mahathir as prime minister so it is not possible to call it off.
"So, there is no basis. And PKR will give our support to Dr Mahathir as we promised.
“Do not try to pit us against one another. This is the work of PAS, that is why I started to hit back at them,” he said.