Former Minister Kabir Hashim today denied a media report claiming that he was connected to businesses operated by a Turkish terror organisation.

He claimed that the particular Sinhala newspaper was closely associated with the government and that the report was carried to tarnish his reputation. "The newspaper did not contact me to get my side of the story." The former minister said he will take legal action against the newspaper for publishing the 'defamatory news article'. "This has been done days before Samagi Jana Balavegaya leader Sajith Premadasa plans to visit my electorate. I also have reason to believe that this may also be conspired by a certain faction in the UNP as I have been quite vocal about issues in the party. " The newspaper report said that the Presidential Commission of Inquiry(PCoI) probing the Easter Sunday attacks had revealed that former minister Rishad Bathiudeen and minister Kabir Hashim were connected to businesses operated by an international terror organisation. The news paper article further read, "Former State Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vasantha Senanayake and Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Relations, Dhammika Kumari Semasinghe giving evidence to the commission yesterday revealed that a Turkish terror organisation had carried out business in Sri Lanka and that two former cabinet ministers Kabir Hashim  and Rishad Bathiudeen were connected to the businesses. It was further revealed at the commission that out of the two ministers, Bathiudeen had invested more in the businesses in question."