Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he was only querying about the person who had issued the instruction to the two police officers who were convicted of killing Mongolian model, Altantuya Shaariibuu.

The former premier said, it is not fair for former corporal Sirul Azhar Umar and ex-chief inspector Azilah Hadri to be given capital punishment, just because they were carrying out orders.

“This (murder case) is not an eight-year-old problem. What I asked about is today’s problem – the problem of the lives of two cops on death row.

“It is highly unjust if they, two lower rank officers, are killed for following instructions.

“I am only asking about the person who gave out the instruction to Sirul and his friend (Azilah),” he wrote on his blog, chedet.cc, today.

READ: The fate of UMNO lies with Najib: Tun M

Dr Mahathir said, he only wanted the questions pertaining to the instruction to kill Altantuya, to be answered.

He said the issue needs to be clarified because it has caused a lot of suspicion among the rakyat.

Dr Mahathir said, he did not accuse Najib (Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak) of committing any crime because that can be investigated by the police.

“In my blog, I did not accuse Dato Seri Najib of committing any crime. That can be determined if the police carry out probes.

“What I requested was for all the questions brought about by the rakyat to be answered,” he said.

READ: Respond to Mahathir's critics, UMNO Youth Exco tells Najib

The ex-prime minister had, on April 2, blogged about the issues surrounding Najib – on the Altantuya murder, on 1Malaysia Development Berhad’s funds, on UMNO, and even on the recent purchase of a new private jet for government officials to use.

Following that blog post, several quarters had called for Dr Mahathir to 'leave Najib alone'.

Among them were Special Affairs Department (Jasa) panel Lokman Noor Adam, who claimed that the former PM was trying to put Najib down to provide a clearer political path to his son, Mukhriz.

READ: Dr M, stop criticising Najib - Lokman

Sabah State Assembly Speaker, Salleh Said Keruak, in his own blog sskeruak.blogspot yesterday, had also claimed that Dr Mahathir has his own “private agenda” and “hidden motives” for criticising the prime minister.