Mahathir celebrates 76th birthday

Thu, 20 Dec 2001, 00:00 WIB | Source: AFP

MALAYSIA: Veteran Asian leader Mahathir Mohamad celebrates his
76th birthday on Thursday, riding a new wave of support generated
by fallout from the terror attacks on the United States.

Fear of Muslim militancy in multi-cultural Malaysia has riven
the opposition and made Mahathir's moderate form of Islamic rule
seem a safe haven in a frightening new world, analysts say.

Mahathir, who has served as prime minister for 20 years, faced
growing competition from the hardline Islamic Parti Islam
SeMalaysia (PAS) after sacking his popular deputy Anwar Ibrahim
in 1998.

PAS trebled its parliamentary seats in 1999 elections at the
expense of Mahathir's ruling party, which it accuses of being
corrupt and un-Islamic, but has been forced onto the defensive by
the Sept. 11 attacks.

Within weeks, the ethnic-Chinese-based Democratic Action Party
(DAP) had split from an opposition alliance with PAS, saying it
could not agree with PAS's plans to impose an Islamic state if it
came to power.

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