KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 3 — Opposition party PKR wants Home Minister Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi to explain a letter from him presented in a US court case on illegal gambling in which he said the accused, is not a member of a fearsome Hong Kong triad.

The letter in question surfaced at the trial of Paul Phua, a former Macau junket operator, facing illegal gambling charges in the US for taking bets during the football World Cup last summer and was presented as part of the defence’s case, according to a report in the South China Morning Post late December.

Fahmi Fadzil, communications director for PKR, said in a statement Zahid must say if he had indeed written the letter, addressed to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Zahid had also been reported as saying that Phua had helped Malaysia on “projects” affecting national security.

A prominent lawyer, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, is scheduled to hold a press conference on the matter later today.