Mahathir attacks rivals' stance on ISA detentions

Mahathir attacks rivals' stance on ISA detentions

KUALA LUMPUR (AP): Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad slammed Malaysia's opposition parties Sunday for condemning a crackdown on what the government has described as a militant criminal gang.

"This shows how stupid they are," Mahathir was quoted as saying by the national news agency, Bernama. "Even if people get murdered or whatever, they claim that it's a charade."

Police recently detained 10 men accused of carrying out murders, robberies and attacks on churches and temples as part of a campaign for a hard-line Islamic state. Another five suspects are still believed to be at large.

Authorities detained the men under the Internal Security Act (ISA), which allows for indefinite detention without trial. Some of the men are members of the opposition fundamentalist Pan- Malaysian Islamic Party.

Mahathir on Sunday pledged that the suspects would be charged in court eventually. Lawyers have mounted a legal battle to free some of them, saying that the detentions are unconstitutional.

The government has denied that political motives were behind the clampdown on the so-called Mujahidin Militant Group, which is allegedly led by the son of the Islamic opposition group's spiritual leader.

The Islamic Party is accusing authorities of trying to smear its reputation and retaliate for the party's criticism of an official ban on public political rallies.

Government officials have sought to maintain support among ethnic Malay Muslims, who comprise about 60 percent of Malaysia's 23 million people, since retaining power in a 1999 general election.

The sizable ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities helped Mahathir's ruling coalition win 75 percent of the seats in Parliament, but the fundamentalist party drew large numbers of Malay voters.