Mahathir denounces PAS and pledges to block 'syariah' law

Mahathir denounces PAS and pledges to block 'syariah' law

Agencies, Kuala Lumpur

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Tuesday vowed to block an
opposition party's plan to introduce Islamic Sharia law and
warned its leaders they could be headed for hell.

Describing the Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) as deviationist,
Mahathir told an impromptu news conference the government would
if possible prevent the party from enacting a version of Sharia
in a state under its control.

Referring to the plan by Terengganu state chief minister Abdul
Hadi Awang, Mahathir said: "He will sin because he approves laws
that are unfair and when he dies he will face hell.

"Because he has approved laws that are not based on true
Islamic teachings and tarnish the true teachings of Islam he will
receive his punishment on judgement day."

He said the government would study PAS's plans and "if we have
the power, we will prevent the implementation of such unfair
laws."

Mahathir said opposition by his United Malays National
Organization (UMNO) to PAS's proposals would not make the party
unIslamic.

"We are Islamic. They are unIslamic. Their God is a thug and
that is why they deviate," he said.

Mahathir, 76, who on Monday described Malaysia as an Islamic
fundamentalist state because it abides by the fundamental
teachings of Islam, said Islamic laws were fair but PAS laws
victimized the people.

"They insult Islam by creating a set of laws that is
supposedly Islamic but has no justice. It is clear their laws are
unfair," he said.

Sharia criminal law, which PAS wants to introduce, carries
punishments such as stoning to death for adultery and amputation
of limbs for theft, and has been widely opposed by women's groups
and other civil activists.

PAS is the main opposition within the majority Malay Muslim
community to UMNO, which was Tuesday due to launch its annual
assembly at which the role of religion in government is expected
to be high on the agenda.

The issue has become central to Malaysian politics in the wake
of the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the United States and a
crackdown here on alleged Islamic militants, many of them PAS
members.

Mahathir, who has condemned the attacks and won praise from
the U.S. for his cooperation in the war on terrorism, has said
terrorism is unIslamic and in September declared that Malaysia
was a true "Islamic state".

The Chinese-based opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP) in
this multi-cultural country objected, saying it was against the
secular constitution and could make non-Muslims second-class
citizens.

PAS, on the other hand, derided Mahathir's declaration as
false and is using its plan for Sharia law as an attempt to
embarrass the government.

The Islamic party rode a growing wave of support ahead of 1999
elections, in which it tripled its parliamentary seats and took
power in a second of the country's 13 states.

But since the Sept. 11 attacks Mahathir, who has been in power
for 21 years, has deftly used fears of Islamic militancy against
PAS and UMNO has seen a resurgence in support.

Mahathir's latest "fundamentalist" declaration can be seen as
political juggling by a veteran prime minister who enjoys
semantics and could call an early general election to capitalize
on PAS's discomfort.

He has repeatedly told non-Muslims they have nothing to fear
from his definition of the country as "Islamic", while accusing
PAS of wanting to impose an oppressive Taliban-like regime.

Muslims make up 60 percent of Malaysia's 23 million
population, but large Chinese and Indian minorities follow
Buddhism (19 percent), Christianity (9 percent) and Hinduism (6
percent).

Also on Tuesday, Islamic militant suspects detained in
Malaysia confessed publicly for the first time that they
underwent weapons training in Afghanistan and tried to help
Muslim separatist groups in Southeast Asia.

They also claimed that many of their comrades remained at
large.

The testimony came at the start of an inquiry by Malaysia's
human rights commission into conditions at the Kamunting prison
camp in northern Malaysia, where suspects jailed under the
Internal Security Act are held. The act allows for indefinite
detention without trial.

The handcuffed detainees said they had been well treated but
pleaded innocent, claiming they had never threatened Malaysia's
security. Freeing them is outside the commission's powers.

Abdullah Daud, 48, told the panel he was a committed member of
Jemaah Islamiya, a group accused of links to al-Qaeda and of
attempting to blow up U.S. targets in Singapore. But Abdullah
denied assertions that the group wanted to establish an Islamic
fundamentalist state across Malaysia, Indonesia and the largely
Muslim southern Philippines.