King calls on divided Malay Muslims to unite

King calls on divided Malay Muslims to unite

KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): Malaysia's king on Monday called for the country's Muslims to heal their divisions, lending royal weight to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's call for Malay unity talks with the country's Islamic opposition.

Sultan Salahuddin Aziz, the country's constitutional monarch, in a televised address marking the Muslim New Year, said the destruction of the Muslim community, called ummah, must be averted.

"The annihilation of the ummah is a nightmare that haunts us and we must not let this fear become reality," the king said, according to Bernama news agency.

The Muslim Malay ethnic majority, who account for 55 percent of Malaysia's 22 million people, were badly split by the humiliation of Mahathir's former deputy, Anwar Ibrahim, currently serving a 15-year jail sentence sex and graft crimes.

The fate of Anwar, who says he was framed to forestall a challenge to Mahathir, remains the single most divisive issue among Malays.

On Monday, the Malaysian government said Anwar, who has been in hospital for four months with back pain, was making political capital out of his condition.

The former deputy premier took the "opportunity to drag" the situation by requesting to go abroad for spinal surgery even though local experts were capable of treating him, Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said.

There has been "tremendous pressure from abroad" amid a perception that Anwar has been denied medical treatment, he said.

"Anwar is making use of his medical condition -- which is very sad -- as a political gambit for him to say to the world that he has been unjustly treated, that he has been badly treated, therefore he wants to get out of the country," Syed Hamid told a news conference.

"When he gets out of the country, I think he knows best what he wants to do ... but what we are saying is that the situation does not arise. He has to be treated here."

Lawyer Sankara Nair told AFP that he would meet Anwar on Monday to decide the next course of action, which could include suing the government for denying Anwar his legal rights.

Mahathir's United Malays National Organization (UMNO) won less than half the Malay votes in the last election, a year and a half ago, and his coalition depends on support from parties representing the country's Chinese and Indian, largely non- Muslim, minorities.

Malaysia was rocked earlier this month by racial violence in which six people died in a poor area outside Kuala Lumpur after clashes between Malays and ethnic Indians. A string of subsequent attacks on Indians raised police suspicions that a gang of Malay extremists could be involved.

The King said political differences should be set aside if the country's Muslims are to avoid jeopardizing their future prosperity.

Mahathir has sought talks with leaders of Parti Islam se- Malaysia (PAS), which leads the four party opposition front, since the start of the year as a way of winning back favor with the country's Muslim Malay ethnic majority.

PAS backed out of talks at the eleventh hour last month, presenting a set of pre-conditions and saying the timing was bad. PAS and UMNO are holding technical level talks to clear obstacles to a meeting of their leaders.

The country's figurehead rulers last week appeased PAS somewhat, by supporting its right to use Islam in the name of a political party, despite objections from UMNO.

The conference of rulers, which groups Malaysia's sultans and state governors, said it was alright to have an Islamic name so long as it did not confuse people or deviate from true Muslim teachings.

Muslim clerics running PAS usually deliver their message during Friday prayers at the mosque or at specially organized social/religious gatherings.

According to a news report on Monday, the national police chief had urged his force to brace itself for what he predicts will be a challenging year ahead.

"Unhealthy politicking such as anti-government campaigns, street demonstrations and illegal assemblies are expected to continue throughout the year," Inspector General of Police Norian Mai said in a speech on Sunday to mark Police Day.

"These, coupled with a sluggish economy, will affect the job market adversely," Norian was quoted as saying by The Star daily.