'Malaysia may face threat from inside'

'Malaysia may face threat from inside'

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): The potential threat to multi-racial Malaysia is from within and not from outside, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said in remarks published yesterday.

The potential threats were racial intolerance and religious confrontation, Mahathir said in an interview with the Hong Kong- based Far Eastern Economic Review magazine, published yesterday.

Placing the importance of the threats in an economic context, Mahathir said Malaysia would have to register seven percent growth annually for the next 25 years.

"But we need political stability to achieve that. That's one fear we always have," the prime minister was quoted as saying.

Ethnic Malays make up more than half of Malaysia's 20 million population, while ethnic Chinese account for 30 percent. Bloody racial riots broke out in May 1969, sparked by the wide economic disparity between the poorer Malays and the wealthier Chinese.

Mahathir also defended restrictive laws on the airing of confrontational racial and religious issues, saying such laws were necessary "to ensure the country remains stable" and to ward off potential threats.

The premier said he was convinced the country was on the correct economic path, as proven by its annual growth averaging eight percent a year since 1987.

However, Mahathir said his greatest regret was that he "began too late," referring to the fact that he became prime minister in 1981 at the age of 56.

He refused to say when he would step down in favor of his 47- year old deputy, Anwar Ibrahim.

"Why should I? The moment you give a timetable, you are a lameduck," Mahathir was quoted as saying.

Although he had not decided on when to step down, he said he would be succeeded by his deputy at the time.