Anwar says he brought along Indonesian businessman Riza as courtesy call to sultan

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim today confirmed that he did have an audience with Sultan of Kedah Sultan Sallehuddin Sultan Badlishah, together with an Indonesian businessman, but clarified that it was just a courtesy call.

In fact, he said the courtesy call has nothing to do with the application for the businessman to run a rare earth element (REE) mining activity in Kedah, as alleged by Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor.

"The audience with the sultan has nothing to do with the REE issue. The Sultan wanted to see me because of other matters, including a visit to the Royal Mausoleum.

"What has been the issue is the theft of the REE and the illegal mining by a Chinese company, so don't spin it," he told reporters after opening the Malaysian Commercialisation Year Summit 2023 in Kuala Lumpur today.

Prior to this, the media reported that Sanusi claimed that Anwar and the Indonesian businessman had come to the state to visit the REE mining site before the 15th general election.

The businessman, known as Reza Chalid, was said to have a keen interest in investing and running the REE mining business in Kedah.