Malaysia police to quiz opposition over clash toll<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): Malaysian police said on Wednesday
\nthey would question government critics over their allegations
\nthat the number of dead following weekend clashes between ethnic
\nMalays and Indians exceeded official account.<\/p>\n
The national Bernama news agency quoted Selangor state police
\nchief Nik Ismail Nik Yusoff as saying that he had lodged a police
\nreport against two opposition parties and outspoken Internet
\nservice malaysiakini.com over the allegations.<\/p>\n
Nik Ismail said the two parties -- Parti Islam se-Malaysia
\n(PAS) and Parti Keadilan Nasional -- had been distributing
\npamphlets disputing the death toll, which police put at six.<\/p>\n
Malaysiakini, a local news portal, on Tuesday quoted unnamed
\nhospital sources and family members as saying that the death toll
\nin Malaysia's worst racial violence in 32 years could be higher
\nthan six, although it gave no figures of its own.<\/p>\n
Malaysiakini editor Steven Gan said the story it put was based
\non a press statement by the four-party opposition Barisan
\nAlternatif front, which PAS and Keadilan are also members.<\/p>\n
\"We haven't received any visit from the police yet,\" Gan told
\nReuters.<\/p>\n
Officials from the opposition front said they had no immediate
\ncomment.<\/p>\n
Nik Ismail said police arrested four people late on Tuesday
\nfollowing a clash at a Hindu temple near the troubled Taman
\nDesaria neighborhood of Petaling Jaya.<\/p>\n
This brought the total apprehended to 171 people. Another 53
\npeople detained earlier in the connection with the clashes had
\nbeen released.<\/p>\n
Among those arrested included two for suspected rumor-
\nmongering. The remaining could be charged with illegal assembly
\nand possession of weapons.<\/p>\n
Nik Ismail said 25 people were still in hospital on Wednesday,
\nbeing treated for wounds sustained earlier.<\/p>\n
He said while calm had returned to the troubled areas, police
\nhad to continue battling rumors which \"created an atmosphere of
\nfright among the people\".<\/p>\n
Police have warned that rumor-mongers could be charged under
\nthe country's tough Internal Security Act which allows for
\ndetention without trial.<\/p>\n
Groups wielding stocks, machetes and pipes roamed the Taman
\nDesaria neighborhood, known for its violent crime and gangs, at
\nthe height of the violence.<\/p>\n
The clashes between members of the two ethnic groups was
\nsparked by a row involving a Malay wedding party and a Hindu
\nfuneral procession.<\/p>\n
Four Indians, a Malay and an Indonesian died in the fighting.
\nMost victims were hacked or bludgeoned to death.<\/p>\n
The poor area is divided into pockets of almost exclusively
\nIndian and Malay communities.<\/p>\n
Indians make up just eight percent of Malaysia's 22 million
\npeople, Chinese 30 percent and Malays and other indigenous people
\nmake up the rest.<\/p>\n
While Indians are well represented in the professional
\nclasses, they are also among the poorest and most marginalised.<\/p>\n
In a related development, Malaysian authorities have announced
\nplans to build 5,000 low-cost homes to rehouse squatters in a
\nrun-down district where the country's worst ethnic clashes for
\ndecades broke out.<\/p>\n
Mohamed Khir Toyo, chief minister of the central state of
\nSelangor, late Tuesday announced plans to build the new homes in
\nTaman Medan, a poor district of Petaling Jaya town west of Kuala
\nLumpur.<\/p>\n
He said the state government would build the homes to end the
\nsquatter problem in the area, where there were some 6,000
\nsquatter families.<\/p>",
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