Controversial Indian Islamic preacher Zakir Naik apologized on Tuesday for making racially sensitive remarks in Malaysia, after police banned him from speaking in public and questioned him for hours over the comments. Naik, who faces charges of money laundering and hate speech in India, has come under fire for comments that pitted Malaysia's ethnic and religious minorities against the predominantly Muslim Malay majority.

Controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik apologised on Tuesday for making comments about race in multi-ethnic Malaysia which sparked calls for his expulsion, a day after being questioned by the police. Zakir Naik, a radical television preacher who has called the 9/11 attacks an "inside job", left India in 2016 and moved to largely Muslim Malaysia, where he was granted permanent residency.

Controversial Indian Islamic preacher Zakir Naik apologised on Tuesday for making racially sensitive remarks in Malaysia, after police banned him from speaking in public and questioned him for hours over the comments. Naik, who faces charges of money laundering and hate speech in India, has come under fire for comments that pitted Malaysia's ethnic and religious minorities against the predominantly Muslim Malay majority.