KUCHING, July 1 — Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said it was a genuine mistake and not an intrusion when the Sabah Air helicopter he was travelling in landed on a landing pad belonging to the Indonesian military, near the Sabah border with Indonesia, today.

“We were supposed to land at Sungai Melayu, near the border. But the pilot saw that the landing pad was under water. So, he looked for an alternative spot to land,” he told reporters, here, tonight.

He had earlier attended an iftar (breaking of fast) with Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem and the state police contingent at the Tabuan Jaya police housing complex, here.

He said the pilot took off on realising his mistake and later landed at Wallace Bay in Sabah.

“I hope the media from both Malaysia and Indonesia will not manipulate the incident.

 “We have explained to the Indonesian embassy. I have also briefed Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on the matter,” he said.

Ahmad Zahid said tomorrow, the Home Ministry would send an explanation letter to the Malaysian Foreign Minister for him to deliver to his Indonesian counterpart.

“I hope the matter will be put to rest as it is not a case of intrusion but a genuine mistake by the pilot. We should not allow the good relations between the two countries to be affected by this,” he said.

The minister said there was no fencing in that border area where the terrain was identical and hence, the pilot should not be blamed for it.

On another matter, Ahmad Zahid said a show-cause letter had been sent on Monday to The Edge newspaper for publishing misleading reports on 1MDB which it obtained from the Sarawak Report website.

“The government is giving it one week to respond,” he said.

Earlier at the function, Adenan gave RM50,000 to Sarawak Perkep (Police Welfare Association) to fund its activities. — Bernama