KUALA LUMPUR, Oct. 17 -- Despite feeling wronged by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Datuk Seri Najib Razak said he will forgive his mentor-turned-nemesis because Islam teaches its followers to be merciful.

The Pekan MP who was portrayed as Malaysia's number one villain in the wake of the 1MDB global financial scandal was recently cast again as the main antagonist by Dr Mahathir for destroying "his" Umno - resulting in the country's present messy political state.

"Indeed I felt angry. That I cannot avoid, because his words are too harsh, crosses the limit and are baseless, it is difficult to be accepted by any human.

"Truthfully, I cannot deny that in my heart, I was too angry. But like I said, as a person who practises his faith, if he asks f...