PM Mahathir, opposition urged to hold talks<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (AP): The party of Prime Minister Mahathir
\nMohamad said on Wednesday it would urge him to open new talks
\nwith opposition leaders aimed at healing rifts within the Muslim
\nMalay ethnic group, which has long dominated Malaysian politics.<\/p>\n
But opposition leaders, including Azizah Ismail, wife of
\nMahathir's jailed former deputy, Anwar Ibrahim, said that
\nauthorities were sending conflicting signals by calling for Malay
\nunity while at the same time arresting opponents.<\/p>\n
Azizah spoke shortly after two key members of the National
\nJustice Party that she leads were charged in a northern town,
\nKulim, with illegal assembly and rioting in connection with her
\nparty's victory in a state assembly by-election Nov. 29.<\/p>\n
In all, nine opposition figures have been charged with
\ncommitting such offenses during the election, stemming from
\nopposition supporters blocking buses they contended were filled
\nwith illegal pro-government voters.<\/p>\n
Azizah and other activists have accused Mahathir's government
\nof waging a vendetta to avenge its loss and embarrassment in a
\npoll that it threw heavy resources into winning.<\/p>\n
The national news agency, Bernama, quoted Deputy Prime
\nMinister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as saying the United Malays
\nNational Organization, which has dominated politics since
\nindependence in 1957, wants Mahathir to hold talks with Azizah
\nand Fadzil Noor, head of the fundamentalist Pan-Malaysian Islamic
\nParty.<\/p>\n
Abdullah said that Mahathir, Azizah and Fadzil needed to "face
\neach other and hold heart-to-heart talks," Bernama reported. "We
\ncannot see national unity existing if Malays remain divided."<\/p>\n
Azizah reacted by saying that the proposed talks should focus
\non "national integration," not a single race. Malaysia has large
\nminorities of ethnic Chinese and Indians.<\/p>\n
It was the first time that UMNO has endorsed such talks with
\nAzizah and Fadzil, allies in an opposition coalition formed to
\nend Mahathir's 19-year rule over this Southeast Asian country.
\nTheir parties are supported largely by Muslim Malays.<\/p>\n
Both opposition leaders have criticized the police, who come
\nunder Abdullah's control, for the recent arrests.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, Ezam Mohamad Noor and Azmin Ali, members of the
\nJustice Party's ruling council, were charged with illegal
\nassembly and rioting and released on bail of 5,000 ringgit ($
\n1,315) each.<\/p>\n
Police kept watch over hundreds of opposition supporters in
\nKulim, shouting anti-Mahathir slogans outside the courthouse. The
\ncrowd dispersed after police threatened to spray chemically laced
\nwater, witnesses said. At least one person was arrested.<\/p>\n
Many voters turned away from Mahathir's long-ruling United
\nMalays National Organization in general elections in November
\n1999, partly out of sympathy for Anwar, who was sacked as deputy
\npremier in 1998 and is now serving 15 years in prison for
\ncorruption and sodomy.<\/p>\n
Anwar and his supporters claim that the charges were
\norchestrated by Mahathir's government, which they accuse of
\ncorruption and undemocratic practices, to stop Anwar from posing
\na challenge.<\/p>\n
The ousted deputy premier has been hospitalized with a slipped
\ndisc since Nov. 25. Azizah said that his condition has "improved
\na bit" after therapy and that he would wait before deciding on
\nwhether to have surgery.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Azizah testified on Wednesday before a Malaysian
\nNational Human Rights Commission inquiry that a rally she
\nattended Nov. 5 in support of her husband became chaotic when
\npolice fired tear gas and chemically laced water without warning.<\/p>\n
"I could feel the gas and droplets of the water," Azizah said.
\n"I just kept praying that nobody would get hurt".<\/p>\n
Azizah said she learned later that police fired a tear-gas
\ncanister at her car, hitting an aide who was seated on the back
\nof the vehicle.<\/p>",
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