hamid albar

Minister: Malaysiakini strays from truth

KUALA LUMPUR: Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar Thursday criticised Malaysiakini.com as having from the outset strayed from the truth to serve specific interests.
"We (the Government) know what Malaysiakini.com is worth and have to expose it so that the people know. Otherwise it is as if it is a voice championing freedom of expression,'' he said, joining the list of Malaysians denouncing the Internet website news reportedly funded by currency speculator George Soros.

Malaysiakini a fortnight ago denied having received funding from Soros' Open Society Fund.

Syed Hamid also charged that Malaysiakini, while claiming to uphold freedom of expression, was not practising what it preached when it refused to be interviewed by Radio and Television Malaysia (RTM) and TV3, the private station.

"It does not practise what it preaches. This is hypocrisy ... the truth is it is a political agenda,'' Syed Hamid said when asked about the current controversy surrounding Malaysiakini.com Earlier, he launched a book Mandat Unesco dan Cabaran Globalisasi (the Unesco mandate and the globalisation challenge) written by Dr Hussein Ahmad and published by Utusan Publication and Distributors Sdn Bhd.

Also present at the launch at the Kuala Lumpur Tower were Information Ministry Parliamentary Secretary Senator Datuk Zainuddin Maidin and Utusan Melayu Group executive chairman Tan Sri Kamarul Ariffin.

Citing Malaysiakini.com's mostly anti-government items to reinforce his conviction that it was serving specific interests, Syed Hamid said Malaysiakini had no qualms about running down and denying the country's achievements just to win awards.

"I think this is unethical and lacks principle as it does not matter whether it lies or not as long as it serves the agenda of the people behind it,'' said Syed Hamid.

According to Syed Hamid, some of the articles Malaysiakini carried totally ignored racial and religious sensitivities of Malaysians.

"Creating chaos in the name of freedom ... this is not the way of the Government,'' he said.

On the United States embassy here advertising the mission on Malaysiakini.com, Syed Hamid said the Government could not stop diplomatic missions from doing so.

"But we hope they will always exercise wisdom in this matter,'' he added.--Bernama

When the king Pariah speaks, other idiots echo

Malaysia says Anwar supporters tried to recruit help in Indonesia

KUALA LUMPUR, April 15 (AFP) - A Malaysian minister repeated charges Sunday that supporters of jailed opposition politician Anwar Ibrahim tried to enlist Indonesian activists to stage violent protests here aimed at toppling the government.
"There is no group in Indonesia, which is preoccupied with their own internal problems, who want to meddle in our affairs but it our people who had invited them and failed," Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar was quoted as saying by the Bernama news agency.

Malaysia last week detained without trial seven pro-Anwar activists in a bid to derail a rally on Saturday marking "Black (April) 14" -- the second anniversary of Anwar's conviction for abuse of power.

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who claims that activists planned to use explosives, said the detentions nipped plans for a violent, Indonesian-style protest in the bud.

Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang said the peaceful end to Saturday's gathering showed that there was no basis to detain the seven.

In a statement Lim, chairman of the Democratic Action Party, again challenged Mahathir to prove his assertions of a "secret cell" which was planning to use weapons and explosives and to recruit Indonesians.

Otherwise, Lim said, the premier should "stop his politics of desperation and bankruptcy" and withdraw the claims.

A crowd estimated at between 2,000-3,000 gathered Saturday outside the offices of the national human rights commission (Suhakam), as opposition legislators led by Anwar's wife handed in a memorandum on rights abuses.

Police had banned the rally but did not try to disperse the crowd.

Anwar, the former deputy prime minister who was once Mahathir's heir apparent, is serving a total of 15 years in jail after being convicted in separate trials of abuse of power and sodomy.

Anwar says Mahathir orchestrated a conspiracy to frame him because he was seen as a political threat. The premier denies interfering in the judicial process.

Mahathir, quoted by Sunday newspapers, said Saturday's gathering failed to achieve what he called its target of 50,000 participants because instigators had been locked up.

"I think it is because they have no leaders to incite them ... their leaders have been detained by police," he said.

The government's use of the Internal Security Act (ISA), which allows indefinite detention without trial, was apparently effective, he said.

The premier, who was speaking Saturday, said he had information that "certain parties" had gone to Indonesia to try to recruit support.

"They proposed a gathering of 50,000 people and we learnt that they told certain people that they wanted to have it a la Indonesia, that is through violence. But (it) did not happen."

Mahathir's ruling coalition evoked the spectre of Indonesian-style unrest in a slick advertising campaign before the 1999 elections.

Opposition leaders said at the time the "fear and scare" campaign had proved effective in dissuading ethnic Chinese from supporting them.

Amnesty International and local rights groups, including Suhakam, have strongly criticised the use of the ISA.

On Sunday the Malaysian Trades Union Congress, which represents 555,000 workers, called for the seven to be either charged or released.

Its president Zainal Rampak also urged authorities to let families visit the detainees. But he said the congress was not in favour of violent demonstrations.

Rais Yatim, minister for legal affairs, hit back at the government-appointed Suhakam, saying its "inappropriate comments" gave a boost to reformasi (reform) activities.

"The general impression now is that Suhakam is supporting the reformasi activists," the New Sunday Times quoted him as saying.

Govt may use ISA to wipe out money politics

TAPAH: Deputy Home Minister Datuk Zainal Abidin Zin yesterday said the Government might use the Internal Security Act (ISA) to arrest political leaders who practised money politics.
He said the move was applicable to all political leaders.

Zainal said this was because money politics was a serious crime and those who practised it were considered a threat to the nation's security.

However, he said the ISA would only be used as the last resort if money politics practised by certain political leaders were really detrimental to the political scenario of the country.

"ISA can be used against them as money politics will cause serious damage to the culture and politics of the country,'' he told reporters after opening the Tapah Umno division delegates meeting here.

Zainal was commenting on Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad's proposal to bar extremely rich Umno members from contesting top party posts.

He said Dr Mahathir's suggestion showed that he had a vision to completely wipe out money politics.