PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia: Datuk Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor is to defend himself tomorrow against allegations he has been charging exorbitant fees for "motivational talks".

The country's first astronaut revealed that he had been called by the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry to give his statement.

"I hope that with my detailed explanation, all misunderstandings regarding these payments will stop. These allegations that I have asked for such high fees are completely baseless."

He was speaking after a book signing of Reaching For The Stars, a book authored by his late brother Sheikh Mustapha Shukor Al-Masrie yesterday.

An online news portal had reported that Dr Sheikh Muszaphar had been charging as much as RM8,000 ($3326) an hour for motivational talks at corporate functions.

The report also claimed the fees did not include his hotel stays and flight tickets for appearances in Sabah and Sarawak, hinting he may have amassed a fortune of RM1.2 million since his space journey in October 2007.

The ministry had opened up the inquiry to the public, allowing them to lodge reports against Dr Sheikh Muszaphar. Three reports had been lodged.

He also said the idea for an Islamic Space Agency had received the backing of the first Muslim astronaut Prince Sultan bin Salman, the Saudi Arabian Crown Prince, who went to space on board the space shuttle Discovery in 1985.

"In fact, Prince Sultan said the agency should be represented by eight more Muslims including myself. My mission now is to look for the other people to establish this agency that could bring back the science and astronomy glory days of Islam." -- The New Straits Times / Asia News Network