KUALA LUMPUR, June 7 — Malaysia hopes the crisis involving Qatar and other Middle Eastern states will be resolved without delay.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said this was because unity was the foundation for regional and international progress.

"Malaysia wants to be friends with all nations and we are still maintaining good ties with our friends. The crisis involving the countries concerned is a regional problem,” he said.

Ahmad Zahid, who is also home minister, told this to reporters after attending an "Assimilation of Noble Values” programme for his ministry’s staff at the Police Training Centre here tonight.

Asked if Saudi Arabia had applied any pressure on Malaysia regarding the crisis, Ahmad Zahid replied in the negative.

A number of Middle Eastern countries led by Saudi Arabia and Egypt have severed ties with Qatar citing that the emirate supports terrorist groups.

Meantime, Ahmad Zahid denied rumours saying three Hamas figures from Palestine, who all this while were sheltered by Qatar, were in Malaysia.

"I deny this because the names we obtained via intelligence have been checked by the Immigration Department and they are not in Malaysia,” he said.

Meanwhile, on the bullying of a Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM) student Zurfarhan Osman Zulkarnain, 21, who died on Thursday, Ahmad Zahid wanted investigations to be conducted comprehensively so that "no stone was left unturned”.

In another development, when asked about the appointment of Datuk Seri Idris Jala as a neutral party to look into the crisis besetting Felda Global Ventures Holdings Berhad (FGV), Ahmad Zahid said an internal audit had been carried out.

"In my opinion, the appointment of Idris is to look into the audit and surely there are several decisions which have resulted in huge losses to FGV.

"We know that since the investigation started, market capitalisation dropped and this is not a good development,” he said.

Ahmad Zahid said that hoped the appointment of Idris could speed up investigations especially in terms of management audit and help to boost investor confidence in FGV.

The Prime Minister’s Office, in a statement today, announced that Idris, the president and chief executive officer of Pemandu Associates Sdn Bhd, had been appointed as a neutral party to scrutinise the facts of the case and propose solutions on the decision to suspend FGV’s group president and chief executive officer Datuk Zakarian Arshad, the chief financial officer and two others. — Bernama