PUTRAJAYA — Former minister Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom today claimed that the late Saudi ruler King Abdullah had promised to personally make donations to Malaysia’s then prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s personal bank account, and claimed he had heard this private discussion between the two national leaders.

Testifying as the seventh defence witness in Najib’s 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) trial, Jamil Khir described King Abdullah and Najib as having interacted like a father and son during their 2010 meeting.

In this trial, Najib has claimed that funds totalling RM2 billion which entered his private AmIslamic bank accounts were not 1MDB’s money, and has insisted that he believed those money were sent to him as donations from Saudi Arabia.

Jamil Khir said Najib was attending an unofficial meeting with King Abdullah at the latter’s palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on January 11, 2010, where Najib had conveyed Malaysia’s request for financial assistance or donation from Saudi Arabia.

After the discussion between King Abdullah and Najib in the presence of the Malaysian delegation, Jamil Khir said he saw the Saudi ruler leading Najib away from the meeting area and chatting while walking towards the middle of the hall.

Jamil Khir said Najib had signalled for him to follow and be part of that private discussion. Those in that private discussion were King Abdullah, Najib and the Saudi ruler’s interpreter.

Jamil Khir said he followed them at arms’ length and that he was standing slightly behind Najib, but claimed he was still within distance to hear the two leaders’ conversation and the translated conversation.