SHAH ALAM, 21 Feb: The Chief Minister of Selangor, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, said he has absolutely no ties to Umno corporate figure Daim Zainuddin.

Quoted from Malaysia Kini, he instead asked those who are speculating that he is now in cahoots with Daim should pose the question to Daim themselves.

“The people who say I’m being used by Daim will need to ask Daim if he’s indeed using me. I have absolutely no links to him,” he said after a briefing on water in Shah Alam today.

PKR’s Kapar MP G Manivanan today also issued a press statement urging Khalid to disclose if the person who brokered the out-of-court settlement is close to Daim, as speculated.

Manivanan asked Khalid to explain whether the individual concerned was an individual that is close to Daim.

Khalid was reported to be embroiled in a dispute over a purchase of 20 percent of Guthrie Group Bhd’s shares, while he was chief executive officer there.

Bank Islam took the matter to court in 2007, a year before he was named Selangor Chief Minister.

Bank Islam is 100 percent owned by BIMB Holdings Bhd (BHB), which in turn is 54 percent-owned by Lembaga Urusan Tabung Haji. Other BIMB shareholders are Employers Provident Fund, Permodalan Nasional Bhd and Amanah Saham Bumiputera.

The Court of Appeal had ruled in March 2010 that Khalid need not pay RM66.67 million to Bank Islam when it set aside the summary judgment obtained by the bank against him for failure to settle an Islamic loan facility.

On August 21, 2009, the Kuala Lumpur High Court granted the bank’s application to enter summary judgment against Khalid and ordered him to pay RM66.67 million.

However, he declined to reveal how the out-of-court settlement was brokered.

““I have a relationship with the bank and I use the services of a lawyer; it is an internal negotiation which I cannot disclose,” he said.