Show your outrage at U.S., Mahathir's party urges<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's
\npolitical party urged Malaysians on Wednesday to condemn U.S.
\nVice President Al Gore's sharp attack on the government.<\/p>\n
Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, acting youth chief of the United
\nMalays National Organization (UMNO), said in a statement that
\nMalaysians should come to the party headquarters at Putra World
\nTrade Center to sign a statement condemning the \"American
\narrogance and ignorance.\"<\/p>\n
Following what he called the inexcusable and outrageous
\ncomment of Gore, UMNO Youth also pushed Malaysians to raise the
\nMalaysian flag and to call the U.S. embassy to register their
\ndisgust.<\/p>\n
Gore sparked a furious row with Kuala Lumpur after Monday
\ntelling a dinner attended by about 1,000 people that Washington
\nhad heard the clamor for reform by the \"brave people of
\nMalaysia.\"<\/p>\n
Among the guests was the 73-year-old Mahathir, who has been
\nfacing growing calls to resign from a reform movement which
\nsprang up after he sacked his former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim
\nin September.<\/p>\n
Anwar is facing 10 charges of corruption and sodomy. He denies
\nall of the charges and says they're part of a vendetta
\norchestrated by his political arch-enemy, Mahathir.<\/p>\n
An ally of Mahathir and former advisor on Asia-Pacific
\nEconomic Cooperation (APEC) policy on Wednesday took out a full-
\npage advertisement in a leading daily here slamming Gore for
\ninsulting his country.<\/p>\n
\"As a Malaysian, I am fed up of stupid, ignorant kurang ajar
\nidiots insulting my country,\" wrote Noordin Sophiee in his
\nadvertisement in the New Straits Times, using the Malay term for
\n\"bad-breeding\"<\/p>\n
UMNO, the dominant political party in the ruling National
\nFront coalition, has ruled the country since independence in
\n1957. Mahathir is the party president, while Anwar was the deputy
\nuntil he was sacked early September.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the wife of imprisoned political leader Anwar
\nIbrahim on Wednesday thanked the Pacific Rim leaders who've
\nsupported her and her husband, and rebuffed criticism from the
\nMalaysian government.<\/p>\n
Azizah Ismail, reading from a prepared statement, said: \"I do
\nnot regard the mere expression of support for Anwar and his cause
\nas interference in the internal affairs of Malaysia.\"<\/p>\n
During the just-ended summit of the APEC forum, Azizah met
\nwith top-ranking officials from Australia, Canada and the United
\nStates, as well as with Philippine President Joseph Estrada.<\/p>\n
Those meetings infuriated the Malaysian government, which said
\nthey amounted to unwarranted meddling in domestic affairs.<\/p>\n
Since Anwar has been imprisoned during his trial, his 46-year-
\nold wife has taken over as the de facto leader of the
\n\"reformasi,\" or reform, movement he started.<\/p>\n
Dressed in a mint green Moslem headscarf, Azizah denounced the
\nMahathir government, without naming him specifically.<\/p>\n
\"It is because Malaysians want change and can no longer
\ntolerate authoritarianism and corruption that they are clamoring
\nfor reformasi,\" she said.<\/p>\n
\"My family and I appreciate very much the moral support shown
\nby APEC leaders for my husband, Anwar Ibrahim,\" Azizah told
\nreporters.<\/p>",
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