Mahathir warns rivals to behave

Mahathir warns rivals to behave

KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies) Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad warned the country's opposition parties on Friday not to force his government's hand into taking action against them.

Mahathir, cited by the national news agency Bernama, said rumors that police would arrest opposition leaders were unfounded but warned that the government "might have to do something" if the opposition keeps breaking the law.

Speculation of a crackdown arose after the opposition coalition held several protests in Kuala Lumpur over the past month, reversing a decline in activity after a general election defeat in 1999 and the sentencing of popular former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim to 15 years in prison for corruption and sodomy.

Thousands of people have taken part in the protests, giving renewed momentum to opposition efforts to end Mahathir's 19-year rule over this Southeast Asian nation of 22 million people.

More than 100 people were arrested and charged with illegal assembly after a protest Nov. 5 blocked a major highway. An independent inquiry by the country's human rights commission has been convened to investigate allegations of police brutality in dispersing that gathering.

Ten people arrested at a rally by supporters of Anwar were charged on Friday with offenses punishable by jail terms.

Some 125 people were arrested and later bailed during the protest which was broken up by police using tear gas, batons and water cannon. Of those arrested, 26 people reported injuries ranging from bloody noses to cracked ribs.

Mahathir's coalition won general elections last year, but the premier's own party lost ground among ethnic Muslim Malays, his powerbase, who were angry with the treatment of Anwar.

Anwar was beaten in police custody on the night of his arrest, which followed him taking a leading role in the biggest anti- government protests in years. Anwar claims he was framed on the sodomy and corruption charges to prevent him from challenging Mahathir for power.

Many Muslim Malays switched support to the fundamentalist Pan- Malaysian Islamic Party, of PAS, which tripled its seats in Parliament besides adding a second of Malaysia's 13 provinces to its control.

PAS and its allies in the opposition front, which includes the National Justice Party led by Azizah Ismail, Anwar's wife, have since held protests in support of Anwar and for more democracy.

But the opposition leaders have also voiced the possibility of Mahathir using the police again to suppress political dissent. On Friday, Mahathir said opposition leaders were spreading rumors that they would be arrested only because they felt guilty.

"They know what they are doing is wrong," Mahathir was quoted as saying by Bernama. "They are worried that the government may take action against them."

Lim Kit Siang, chairman of the opposition Democratic Action Party, warned that another mass arrest of anti-government activists could "plunge the country in multiple crisis of confidence."

Lim also raised the possibility of Mahathir exploiting an ongoing feud between an influential Malay student movement and an ethnic Chinese pressure group to order a crackdown on dissenters.

In another development, Mahathir said on Friday he had rejected personal requests from two Israeli prime ministers to establish relations with the Jewish state.

"It's true Netanyahu and Barak have written to me asking Malaysia to establish ties with Israel," Mahathir said. "The reply that we gave is that for as long as the Palestinian problem is not resolved, we will not consider such a possibility."

Former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking to contest prime ministerial elections in February following Ehud Barak's dramatic resignation from the post last Sunday.

Mahathir, speaking at a dialogue with university students, said he sent a congratulatory message to Barak when he was elected prime minister.

But he said he did so with the hope that Israel would respect its agreement with the Palestinian authorities. "But it is clear they do not respect the agreement...that is why negotiations have ceased," Mahathir was quoted by Bernama news agency as saying.