Its minister, Khaled Nordin, said such details were classified.

“The armed forces have never revealed such details to anyone,” he told reporters here.

He refused to divulge details on the individual suspected of leaking the list.

Last night, the ministry warned against speculating about the appointments in the armed forces.

It said such action undermined the credibility of the country’s defence management system and warned that it would not hesitate to take legal action against those disseminating confidential government information under the Official Secrets Act 1972, among others.

Khaled also said any appointment of senior officers in the armed forces would be discussed by the Armed Forces Council before being brought up to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

He said it was therefore unacceptable that such details were leaked even before the king had consented to the appointments.

“The armed forces can only make recommendations. We never made it (information on appointments in the armed forces) public,” he said.