Kuala Lampur, Jan. 17 -- Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) has denied today that three of its top leaders were appointed by Maszlee Malik for being members of Muslim group Ikram.

The university said two of them were even initially appointed under the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) administration, following an accusation by foreign media Asia Sentinel of an alleged "Salafist" infiltration of top academic posts in the country.

"Prof Datuk Mohd Hamdi Abd Shukor who is an academic in engineering field was appointed as the vice-chancellor of UKM based on his credibility and extensive experience in leadership and administration," it said in a statement.

UKM said this included Mohd Hamdi's appointment as University of Malaya's deputy vice-...