Mahathir mounts attack on opposition

Mahathir mounts attack on opposition

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has intensified attacks on an opposition Islamic party, highlighting a sex scandal involving one of its leaders to back charges the group was falsely pious.

As major political parties geared up for widely-expected snap elections, Mahathir called the scandal "a very big issue" which he said proved accusations that Parti Islam SeMalaya (PAS) did not live up to its Islamic image.

"We should see this as an opportunity to show PAS members that their party's claims are just pure lies," Mahathir told 5,000 members of his ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO) late Wednesday.

PAS youth's deputy chief Mohamed Sabu was two weeks ago detained by religious officials in PAS-controlled Kelantan state for being in "close proximity" with a woman in a hotel room.

Mohamed, 41, protested that the married woman, a member of PAS' women's wing, had only come to his room to hand him a parcel. Mohamed is also married.