KL vows to keep tabs on religious organization<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir
\nMohamad said on Sunday the government would strictly monitor
\nreligious extremist groups after a July 2 arms heist by an
\nIslamic cult sparked a security alert.<\/p>\n
\"It has become a security issue and if left unchecked, it can
\njeopardize national unity and prosperity,\" Mahathir was quoted as
\nsaying by the national news agency Bernama.<\/p>\n
\"We shouldn't let tragedy pass by without a lesson learnt;
\nthat is an extreme action is a danger to national unity, peace
\nand stability.\"<\/p>\n
Supporters of the Islamic Al-Ma'unah sect looted two army
\ninstallations in the northern state of Perak on July 2 but were
\ncornered on a jungle hilltop. They surrendered after a three-day
\nstandoff during which two hostages were murdered.<\/p>\n
Mahathir said earlier the Al-Ma'unah members had aimed to
\ntopple the government.<\/p>\n
The premier, during a visit to Sarawak state on Borneo island
\non Sunday, said the government would not condone the use of
\nreligious or racial issues that could divide the people.<\/p>\n
He said a certain group, which he did not identify, had been
\nsowing seeds of hatred against the government for some time, and
\nurged Malaysians to continue to exercise racial tolerance and to
\nremain united.<\/p>\n
Lim Kit Siang, chairman of the Democratic Action Party (DAP),
\nurged the government to form a joint government-opposition
\ncommittee to curb what he called a \"spiraling of the
\npoliticization\" of the arms heist.<\/p>\n
\"In the past one week, there appears to be a deliberate
\nattempt to create fear, particularly among non-Muslims, that the
\ncountry is crawling with violence-prone 'mad mullahs' trying to
\npull down the entire edifice of society,\" he said in a statement
\non Sunday.<\/p>\n
Lim said the government was suffering a \"grave credibility
\ngap\" amid widespread suspicion and skepticism among the people
\nabout various accounts and explanations by federal ministers.<\/p>\n
Lim, who has rejected a \"narrow in-house\" army probe,
\nreiterated his call for an independent and wide-ranging inquiry
\ninto the episode.<\/p>\n
Mahathir quietly celebrated his 19 years in office on Sunday,
\nvowing to stay on until the nation has a firmer grip on its
\npolitical and economic woes.<\/p>\n
On the anniversary of his premiership, democratic Asia's
\nlongest tenancy, the 74-year-old Mahathir remains firmly in power
\nafter surviving his biggest tests in the last three years -- the
\nAsian financial crisis and the sacking of his former protege
\nAnwar Ibrahim.<\/p>\n
Politicians and analysts said Mahathir's next big tasks
\ninclude mending a split among the politically dominant Malays and
\npreserving democracy, freedom and justice for the masses.<\/p>\n
\"I think it will go a long way towards strengthening the
\ninstitutions of democracy, peace and freedom,\" said opposition
\nleader Lim Guan Eng. \"He should loosen up a bit, the government
\nshould be more liberal, more accountable and transparent.\"<\/p>\n
Mahathir has also to overcome the infighting within his United
\nMalays National Organization (UMNO), the backbone of his ruling
\nBarisan Nasional coalition, and the split among the Malays who
\nform just over half of Malaysia's 22 million people.<\/p>\n
\"He has done tremendously well but the years ahead are full of
\nchallenges, especially in making his party even more relevant in
\nthe near future,\" said Megat Najmuddin Khas, a prominent
\ncorporate leader and an UMNO member.<\/p>\n
\"He has to re-establish the credibility of the party among the
\nvoters and among the young in particular. We have seen a certain
\namount of disillusionment and cynicism among the young towards
\nthe party,\" Megat said.<\/p>\n
UMNO lost some support from the Malays in the November general
\nelections, allowing a fundamentalists Muslim party to gain
\ninroads in several states.<\/p>\n
Local newspapers, normally quick to heap praise on Mahathir,
\nwere silent on Sunday about the occasion. Mahathir has no public
\nengagement on Sunday but he spent his Saturday visiting a new
\nhill resort in Sarawak on Malaysia's Borneo.<\/p>\n
The outspoken Mahathir last week rejected suggestions that
\nMalaysia could face considerable political uncertainty once he
\ngives up the reins he has tightly clasped since 1981.<\/p>\n
He said he was confident that Malaysia would remain stable and
\ndeveloped even without him.<\/p>",
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