PAS has reiterated its call to the government to immediately set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to probe the Memali tragedy in 1985.

Its deputy president Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said many confusing statements had been made about the issue and a fair and transparent investigation should be held to unravel the truth.

"PAS considers this issue as unresolved even though it had been tabled in Parliament, so the best solution is to set up an RCI," he said in a press conference held after a meeting of the PAS Central Committee here on Saturday.

He said the party through its Legal and Human Rights Bureau (LUHAM) will organise an event on Nov 19 in Memali, Kedah in conjunction with the anniversary of the tragedy, to clarify it.

On Aug 24, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak after chairing the UMNO Supreme Council meeting, said the government does not discount the possibility of setting up the RCI on the Memali incident to uncover the truth and facts.

He said the government was currently waiting for the reaction of the public, including those involved in the incident, before making a final decision on it.

In the Memali incident on Nov 19, 1985, 18 people including four policemen were killed and many others injured when police launched an operations to arrest a preacher Ibrahim Mahmud, also known as Ibrahim Libya.

-- BERNAMA