Mahathir warns rivals to behave<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies) Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad warned
\nthe country's opposition parties on Friday not to force his
\ngovernment's hand into taking action against them.<\/p>\n
Mahathir, cited by the national news agency Bernama, said
\nrumors that police would arrest opposition leaders were unfounded
\nbut warned that the government \"might have to do something\" if
\nthe opposition keeps breaking the law.<\/p>\n
Speculation of a crackdown arose after the opposition
\ncoalition held several protests in Kuala Lumpur over the past
\nmonth, reversing a decline in activity after a general election
\ndefeat in 1999 and the sentencing of popular former deputy
\npremier Anwar Ibrahim to 15 years in prison for corruption and
\nsodomy.<\/p>\n
Thousands of people have taken part in the protests, giving
\nrenewed momentum to opposition efforts to end Mahathir's 19-year
\nrule over this Southeast Asian nation of 22 million people.<\/p>\n
More than 100 people were arrested and charged with illegal
\nassembly after a protest Nov. 5 blocked a major highway. An
\nindependent inquiry by the country's human rights commission has
\nbeen convened to investigate allegations of police brutality in
\ndispersing that gathering.<\/p>\n
Ten people arrested at a rally by supporters of Anwar were
\ncharged on Friday with offenses punishable by jail terms.<\/p>\n
Some 125 people were arrested and later bailed during the
\nprotest which was broken up by police using tear gas, batons and
\nwater cannon. Of those arrested, 26 people reported injuries
\nranging from bloody noses to cracked ribs.<\/p>\n
Mahathir's coalition won general elections last year, but the
\npremier's own party lost ground among ethnic Muslim Malays, his
\npowerbase, who were angry with the treatment of Anwar.<\/p>\n
Anwar was beaten in police custody on the night of his arrest,
\nwhich followed him taking a leading role in the biggest anti-
\ngovernment protests in years. Anwar claims he was framed on the
\nsodomy and corruption charges to prevent him from challenging
\nMahathir for power.<\/p>\n
Many Muslim Malays switched support to the fundamentalist Pan-
\nMalaysian Islamic Party, of PAS, which tripled its seats in
\nParliament besides adding a second of Malaysia's 13 provinces to
\nits control.<\/p>\n
PAS and its allies in the opposition front, which includes the
\nNational Justice Party led by Azizah Ismail, Anwar's wife, have
\nsince held protests in support of Anwar and for more democracy.<\/p>\n
But the opposition leaders have also voiced the possibility of
\nMahathir using the police again to suppress political dissent. On
\nFriday, Mahathir said opposition leaders were spreading rumors
\nthat they would be arrested only because they felt guilty.<\/p>\n
\"They know what they are doing is wrong,\" Mahathir was quoted
\nas saying by Bernama. \"They are worried that the government may
\ntake action against them.\"<\/p>\n
Lim Kit Siang, chairman of the opposition Democratic Action
\nParty, warned that another mass arrest of anti-government
\nactivists could \"plunge the country in multiple crisis of
\nconfidence.\"<\/p>\n
Lim also raised the possibility of Mahathir exploiting an
\nongoing feud between an influential Malay student movement and an
\nethnic Chinese pressure group to order a crackdown on dissenters.<\/p>\n
In another development, Mahathir said on Friday he had
\nrejected personal requests from two Israeli prime ministers to
\nestablish relations with the Jewish state.<\/p>\n
\"It's true Netanyahu and Barak have written to me asking
\nMalaysia to establish ties with Israel,\" Mahathir said.
\n\"The reply that we gave is that for as long as the Palestinian
\nproblem is not resolved, we will not consider such a
\npossibility.\"<\/p>\n
Former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking to contest
\nprime ministerial elections in February following Ehud Barak's
\ndramatic resignation from the post last Sunday.<\/p>\n
Mahathir, speaking at a dialogue with university students,
\nsaid he sent a congratulatory message to Barak when he was
\nelected prime minister.<\/p>\n
But he said he did so with the hope that Israel would respect
\nits agreement with the Palestinian authorities.
\n\"But it is clear they do not respect the agreement...that is why
\nnegotiations have ceased,\" Mahathir was quoted by Bernama news
\nagency as saying.<\/p>",
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