AKIPRESS.COM - Embattled Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak vowed Thursday that he will not retreat nor surrender amid pressure for him to resign over a $700 million financial scandal.

Najib has been under fire since July after leaked documents showed he received $700 million into his private accounts from entities linked to indebted state investment fund 1MDB. The 1MDB crisis has been partly blamed for a sharp plunge in the Malaysian ringgit, which fell to 17-year lows against the dollar in August, reports ABC.

Opening an annual meeting of his ruling Malay party, Najib reiterated that the money in his accounts was a political donation. He said 1MDB debts of at least 42 billion ringgit ($9.8 billion) were being resolved with the recent sale of its power assets to a China company.

"I am convinced that I am on the side of the truth, and the truth will eventually prevail," Najib told more than 2,000 delegates of his United Malays National Organization.

He said he was aware of efforts to try to remove him and warned that "such treasonous acts" could sink UMNO and destroy the Malay race.

"Even though some may turn against us, even though we are being pushed repeatedly to make us fall, there shall be no retreat, no surrender. No retreat! No surrender!" Najib said.

It is the biggest political crisis for Najib since he took power in 2009. He has denied any wrongdoing but refuses to identify the donor of the money from the Middle East. He has fired his deputy and other critics in his government, sacked the attorney-general probing him, suspended two newspapers and blocked a British-based website.