Mahathir scaremongering, says opposition leader

Mahathir scaremongering, says opposition leader

KUALA TRENGGANU, Malaysia (Reuters): An influential Malaysian Islamic opposition leader said on Friday a crackdown by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's government on alleged Muslim extremists was scaremongering to shore up dwindling support.

Abdul Hadi Awang, deputy president of Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS), also took a swipe at Singapore's Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew for saying PAS, which harbors ambitions to set up an Islamic state in multiracial Malaysia, could be a destabilizing force in the region.

But, in an interview with Reuters, Mahathir's government bore the brunt of the turbanned 53-year-old's ire as he reacted to the arrest two weeks ago of 10 Muslims, including the son of PAS's spiritual leader, Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat.

The 10 men are accused of militant extremism and are being held under the Internal Security Act (ISA), which allows detention without trial.

"The militant issue is created by it to scare the non- Muslims," said Abdul Hadi, who is regarded as the party ideologue and is also chief minister of Trengganu, the east coast state PAS won in the 1999 general election.

Abdul Hadi said there were Malaysian Muslims who joined Muslim freedom fighters to drive Russian forces out of Afghanistan in the 1980s. But he challenged authorities to produce evidence in court to back up their allegations against the 10 who are accused of belonging to an Afghan-trained militant Muslim group.

The police have also held six supporters of the jailed former finance minister Anwar Ibrahim held under the ISA since early April.

Abdul Hadi, whom Asiaweek magazine two months ago listed as the seventh most powerful Asian, well above Mahathir's ranking, said it showed the prime minister, who has ruled for 20 years, was getting desperate.

"These are signs that Mahathir's rule is coming to an end," said Abdul Hadi.

"We cannot have dictators. What is happening points toward dictatorship. The (political) scenario is changing," he said.

He also questioned whether there was a conspiracy within Mahathir's United Malays National Organization (UMNO) to raise fears that PAS harbored extremist elements.

"It is not impossible these things are hatched by UMNO," he said.

Abdul Hadi also said Singapore's Lee was wrong to raise worries about PAS's potential ascendancy over UMNO.

Lee said in an interview published on Singapore's ruling People's Action Party website that regional instability was the biggest risk to the island state's prosperity, and cited growing support for PAS in Malaysia as a potential worry.

"If it continues in that way they can win over some of the Malay and Indian parties, that will present another difficult problem for the region," said Lee, who visits Mahathir on Sept. 2.

Abdul Hadi said Lee was being alarmist, and was too influenced by Western thought.

"If Lee Kuan Yew understands Islam, he should be jubilant over the resurgence of PAS. He should understand the ideology and principles adopted by Singapore came from the West, not from China or India.

"If he can study the Western economic and political theories, why can't he study Islamic teachings on economy and politics as well?"

Abdul Hadi said he was confident that PAS could win more seats in the next general elections, due in 2004, but stopped short of saying whether the opposition front could win power.