Malay group plans mass rally

Fri, 02 Feb 2001, 00:00 WIB | Source: AP

KUALA LUMPUR (AP): Insisting that it does not want to worsen
racial tensions, a Malay Muslim organization on Thursday said it
will hold a mass rally to debate progress achieved by Malaysia's
largest ethnic group over the past 40 years.

Some leaders of the newly formed Malay Action Organization
predict that at least 10,000 ethnic Malays will attend a widely
publicized rally in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, located at the
epicenter of race riots between Malays and ethnic Chinese that
killed hundreds of people in 1969.

"We want to talk about issues facing the Malays," said Ibrahim
Ali, chief coordinator of the organization. "The situation is now
in chaos. We must rectify that."

The Malay establishment, embodied by the ruling United Malays
National Organization, claims that Malays, who are the largest
group in this nation of 22 million people, have been weakened
because many turned to opposition parties in elections in 1999.

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