Malaysian killer says sorry for Australian surgeon murder

SYDNEY (AFP) - A Malaysian man freed from an Australian jail after serving 21 years for the murder of a top heart surgeon has asked the victim's family for forgiveness, describing his crime as a "mistake".

Liew Chiew Seng, 69, was released on parole on Friday and deported back home after more than two decades in prison for the 1991 shooting of Australian heart surgeon Victor Chang in a failed extortion attempt.

Liew landed in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday and told an Australian television crew awaiting his arrival that he was sorry for his role in Chang's murder.

"I made a mistake," he told the Seven network. "I did the wrong thing and I made the family suffer... I want to apologise (to) the family."