KUALA LUMPUR -- Telekom Malaysia Bhd.'s chairman, Ali Hassan, has
tendered his resignation, with effect from Monday, the Ministry of
Finance said Friday.

The ministry said Md Radzi Mansor has been named the new chairman.

Radzi is senior vice-president of Telekom Malaysia's regulatory
management and external affairs division.

Earlier this week, Mohamed Said Mohamed Ali, chief executive of the
state-controlled telecommunications company, denied he is leaving the
company, following an Asian Wall Street Journal report that quoted
industry people as saying management troubles in the company could
cost him his job.

The article also said Monday that Mohamed Said and Telekom's board,
headed by Ali, have been locked in a management battle since early
this year over funding issues, especially those related to Telekom's
overseas forays into South Africa and Thailand.

Analysts said the change isn't expected to affect Telekom operations
as Ali had little to do with the actual day-to-day management of the
group.

But they expressed surprise over his replacement as Radzi is an
unknown. "I don't know who he is," said one analyst.

Telekom analysts said the management shuffle isn't likely to
significantly affect Telekom share prices Monday, after taking a
beating earlier this week. "If (Mohamed) Said was leaving, that would
be a different story," one analyst said.

Telekom shares fell after a three-day trading suspension following the
group's announcement it would bid for a 14.5 billion ringgit
($1=MYR3.80) basket of shares once traded over the counter in
Singapore.

The shares, quoted on the Central Limit Order Book, or CLOB, were
frozen under Malaysia's capital controls.

Telekom and debt-laden United Engineers (Malaysia) Bhd. have offered
to buy the shares at a 42% discount in exchange for nonvoting Class B
shares in Telekom and UEM.

Talk of a management change also fuelled the selling in Telekom
shares.

Analysts said profitable Telekom has lost some credibility with
foreign investors over the CLOB bid, and this latest change may not
help.
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