PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - The older brother of Malaysia's police chief was questioned by police for about four hours on Wednesday over a protest in which Muslim residents demanded that a church near Kuala Lumpur take down its cross.

Datuk Abdullah Abu Bakar arrived at the Petaling Jaya police headquarters in a black Toyota Landcruiser at 4.10pm and was questioned by station chief Asst Supt Mohd Khairul Zaman Wahab. He emerged later at 8pm.

"I am very tired. I just hope everything is going to be okay," he told reporters.

"They (police) asked me all aspects and I answered. They didn't tell me under what Act they were investigating," Abdullah said.

When asked to divulge details of the four-hour long meeting, including the questions asked, he refused to comment. He thanked reporters before being driven off.

Abdullah, the Taman Lindungan Jaya Umno branch chief, had been embroiled in controversy over his role in the protest and his links to the IGP.

He has said he was acting as an intermediary between the church leaders and protesters who had demanded that the church's cross be taken down and the church relocated from the Malay-majority neighbourhood.

He also said the protest had nothing to do with his brother, Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar.

The protesters claimed that the presence of the cross on the church building "challenged Islam" and could sway the beliefs of some Muslims.

However, many moderate Muslims, lawyers and public figures have criticised the protest.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the protesters could be investigated under the Sedition Act.