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KUALA LUMPUR (AP) - The top official of a timber-rich Malaysian state has sued two media outlets and two opposition politicians over reports linking him to logging kickbacks allegedly paid by Japanese shipping firms, the defendants said Thursday.

Abdul Taib Mahmud, the chief minister of Malaysia's Sarawak state on Borneo island since 1981, filed the libel suits through his lawyers on Tuesday after the defendants refused to retract the allegations or offer him compensation, one of the accused politicians said.

The suits were filed against independent news Web site Malaysiakini.com, pro-government newspaper Utusan Malaysia and two officials of the opposition People's Justice Party: See Chee How and Wan Zainal Wan Sanusi, according to See.

See said the documents were filed in court, but they remain sealed and are expected to be served on him and other defendants in the next two weeks.

Abdul Taib is believed to be demanding millions of ringgit (dollars, euros) in damages, See, a lawyer, told The Associated Press.

Abdul Taib's office said the minister's representatives were busy and could not speak to the media. The lawyer handling the case for Abdul Taib could not immediately be contacted, his legal firm said.

Timber has been Sarawak's main economic driver since the early 1980s. The state exported about 7 billion ringgit (US$1.8 billion; ?1.4 billion) worth of logs and timber products in 2005, mainly to China, India and Japan, according to government statistics.

Abdul Taib threatened legal action to clear his name following Japanese media reports in March that nine Japanese shipping firms that transport logs from Sarawak failed to report about 1.1 billion yen (US$9.2 million; ?6.8 million) in income over seven years.

The firms, currently under investigation by Japanese tax authorities, have reportedly denied the accusations that the money was intended to facilitate their business and channeled to a Hong Kong agency, which Japanese media claimed had connections with Abdul Taib and his family.

Abdul Taib has said reports linking him to any scandal were "absolutely false," and warned he would mount legal proceedings in Japan and Malaysia. It was not immediately clear whether similar suits have been filed in Tokyo.

See and his party colleague were sued because they distributed more than 1,000 leaflets demanding an explanation from Abdul Taib about the alleged corruption.

See said he and Wan Zainal were "ready for the suits, because we are not going to apologize."

"We believe the chief minister is trying to silence the opposition and the media," See said.

Steven Gan, chief editor of Malaysiakini.com, which along with Utusan Malaysia published articles on the claims against Abdul Taib, said the company would fight the suit. "We stand by our articles," Gan told the AP.

The Bangkok-based Southeast Asian Press Alliance warned the suits could "create a chilling effect on local media," stressing that public officials "should be subject to a higher level of scrutiny and criticism" because of their position and responsibility to the people.