Speaking at an international Islamic moderation seminar in Bangi, Selangor the Malaysian Prime Minister said he could not defend some aspects of human rights, including LGBT equality.

"Although universal human rights have been defined, we still define human rights in the country in the context of Islam and the Shariah," he said, according to the Malay Mail.

"Even though it is difficult to defend internationally, we must defend our definition of human rights," the website Malaysiakini said.

"And even if we cannot defend human rights at an international level, we must defend it in the Islamic context," he told the seminar.

The comments were slammed by Human Rights Watch. Asia deputy director Phil Robertson told a news conference that hKuala Lumpur should withdraw from the United Nations if the government was not serious about upholding human rights.

"The logical argument from that would be Malaysia should resign from the UN. Is Malaysia prepared to do that?" he asked.