'I'm not who they’re looking for', Shahidan says after mobbed at airport

The crowd that had gathered at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang this morning were looking for the wrong person, Perlis BN chief Shahidan Kassim said after his car was mobbed by the group.

“Yeah, sometimes it’s a case of mistaken identity. I wound down the window to show my face and they said, ‘okay’, ‘alright’, ‘good’.

“I don’t know who they were looking for, but it certainly wasn’t me. I’m just an orang kecil,” he told a press conference at the Alor Setar airport today.

Some 60 people had gathered at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport this morning in hopes of ‘catching’ former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor as they were about to leave the country.

This came after the couple’s purported flight itinerary was leaked and circulated online last night, indicating that they were to board a private jet at the airport at 10am bound for Jakarta.

This sparked concern that they were about the flee the country, but Najib later took to Facebook to state that he was merely taking a break to spend time with his family following intense campaigning for the 14th general election.

He also said that he would consider his positions as Umno president and BN chairperson during this break.

This morning, when a Toyota Vellfire with dark-tinted windows turned up at the airport’s gate leading to its Sykpark Business Aviation Centre at 9.30am, the crowd outside mobbed the vehicle and prevented it from entering.

Some attempted to peer through the windows, while others shouted to demand to know who was inside, as police attempted to maintain order.

This lasted for several minutes, until one of the windows wound down to reveal Shahidan, after which the vehicle was promptly let through the gate.

Later, the Immigration Department confirmed that Najib and Rosmah are on a travel blacklist, and would not be allowed to leave the country.

Petaling Jaya OCPD Mohd Zani Che Din, meanwhile, said the flight which had its details leaked did not exist.

Despite noting that he would make his decision later, Najib announced his resignation as Umno president and BN chairperson at a press conference at the Putra World Trade Centre this afternoon. - Mkini