KUALA LUMPUR - Former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad admitted on Wednesday (July 26) that he is privy to classified government information.

Tun Mahathir wrote in his blog post that former deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin was his chief source of such information, which includes the auditor general's report on scandal-ridden state fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB). The report was classified as an official secret by the National Security Council in March 2016.

"There are comments that I know the contents of reports by Bank Negara Malaysia (the central bank), MACC (the anti-corruption commission), and the Auditor-General to Apandi. Yes, I do know," he wrote in Malay, referring to current Attorney General Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali.

"I know the contents of the BNM report because (former) attorney general Gani Patail showed this to Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin while he was still deputy prime minister ... I know AG Apandi lied, that's why the report was placed under the Official Secrets Act (OSA)."

Dr Mahathir had previously challenged Mr Mohamed Apandi to swear on the Quran that various reports by the authorities did not implicate Prime Minister Najib Razak of wrongdoing regarding the RM2.6 billion (S$827.5 million) found in the latter's bank accounts.

He issued the challenge in response to Mr Mohamed Apandi's claim that he did not conceal evidence regarding the funds nor the alleged financial mismanagement at 1MDB.

Both Tan Sri Muhyiddin and Tan Sri Abdul Gani were sacked by Datuk Seri Najib's administration in 2015.

Opposition member of Parliament Rafizi Ramli was convicted in November 2016 for breaching the OSA by publicly disclosing documents from the auditor-general's report on 1MDB during a press conference last year. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison but has lodged an appeal against his conviction.