PUTRAJAYA, Jan 15 ― Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi defended today his decision to write a letter clarifying the status of Paul Phua's alleged involvement with a notorious triad to US authorities, saying it was done within his power as the home minister.

Zahid also denied he had vouched for the alleged gambling kingpin in the letter, and insisted that the document was only intended to “clarify” allegations that Phua was not a member of the 14K triad “in Malaysia”.

“Previous ministers before me had also written such clarification letters.

“It is based on this and the power of the home minister that I signed the letter,” he told reporters.

The Bagan Datoh MP added that the letter was written following a request by the firm representing Phua here, Shafee & Co.

The firm, headed by Umno-linked lawyer Tan Sri Shafee Abdullah, had asked the minister to write to the Federal Bureau of Investigation clarifying that Phua was not a member of the 14K triad.

Zahid reiterated the 14K triad does not exist in Malaysia, and that Phua is not a member here.

He also said he cannot reveal why he had said in the letter that Phua was assisting Putrajaya in security matters.

"It involves national security which is classified as top secret and it cannot be simply revealed," he said.

Zahid added that this was corroborated by Inspector General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar recently.

The home minister, however, did not state if Phua may be a member overseas.

The home minister ended the press conference abruptly before the media could ask for clarification.

Khalid had recently said that although the 14K triad does not exist in Malaysia, there are Malaysians abroad who are members of the organisation.

“I can only reiterate that while 14K does not exist here, there are Malaysians abroad who are known to be members of the triad,” Khalid told Malaysiakini in a text message.

“How people wish to interpret this statement is up to them. But as I said before, I would not comment further because it would jeopardise the court proceedings in the United States,” he added.

Zahid’s letter to the FBI dated December 18, 2014, was reportedly withdrawn as evidence in Phua’s illegal gambling trial in Las Vegas after Putrajaya objected to it being made public.

The home minister claimed today that the Cabinet are satisfied with his explanation on the matter.

Phua’s lawyer Shafee has said that the police have cleared his client over the latter’s involvement with 14K.

According to Shafee, Zahid’s letter was a response to a request for information about Phua’s alleged involvement with the 14K triad, which the home ministry said was untrue because there was no such triad in Malaysia.

The letter in question surfaced at the trial of the former Macau junket operator, whose full name is Paul Phua Wei Seng, who is facing illegal gambling charges in the US for taking bets during the World Cup last summer.