Posting his comments on Facebook shortly after the interview was aired, Najib said even though the duration and scope of the interview by Al-Jazeera journalist Mary Ann Jolley had gone beyond what was agreed, he still answered the additional questions she posed.

He said Jolley, who was previously responsible for a programme on the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu, was adamant on asking him questions about the case despite his denials and thorough court proceedings on the matter.

“Just two weeks ago, upon my request, my officer had lodged a police report to ask the authorities to reinvestigate the case so my name could be cleared.”

Najib, who posted a link to the Al-Jazeera interview, said although he had answered many questions on Altantuya and 1MDB despite them not being part of the agreed scope of the interview, Jolley refused to return to the original topic about his legacy and the national economy.

“In fact, she continued to press on about the Altantuya and 1MDB issues which are going through the court process and interrupted me while I was answering, and also on multiple occasions, tried to link Jho Low to me even though I had already answered about Jho Low’s role at the beginning of the interview.”

Najib said he made the decision to end the interview as he did not want the TV station to add to the lies about him on the two issues which he had explained and answered many times before.

“I was informed that Al-Jazeera is trying to arrange another interview so that the original goal of both parties can be met.”

Yesterday, Najib apologised to Al-Jazeera for losing his cool during the hour-long interview.