Malaysian Law Minister to Quit over Use of Draconian Security Law

By EILEEN NG / AP WRITER

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia's law minister offered to quit Monday after protesting the use of a draconian security law in a series of arrests last week.

An aide to Zaid Ibrahim said the minister submitted his resignation letter to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's office.

The move came after Zaid, along with several other ministers, broke ranks and criticized the use of the Internal Security Act, a decades-old law that allows indefinite detention without trial, to seize three people on Friday.

Zaid's resignation and the division in the Cabinet pose a new headache for Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as he faces a threat by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim to oust his government by Tuesday through parliamentary defections.

The aide, who declined to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media, said it was up to the prime minister to decide whether to accept Zaid's resignation.

Zaid was among several Malaysian Cabinet ministers who slammed the use of the law in a rare show of defiance against Abdullah.

The sudden arrests sparked concerns of a major government crackdown on dissent. A journalist was subsequently freed Saturday, but an opposition lawmaker and the editor of a pro-opposition news Web site are still detained.

"There were ample punitive laws to act against lawbreakers without having to invoke the ISA. (The law) should only be used on armed terrorists or those out to topple the government by force," Zaid said late Sunday.

He said the arrest of Tan Hoon Cheng from the Chinese-language daily Sin Chew for reporting on racially charged comments by a Malay Muslim ruling party politician gave the perception of "selective prosecution" since no action was taken against the politician. Tan has since been freed.

"The government must change but reform cannot take place if it continues with the old thinking and old philosophies," he said.

Bernard Dompok, a Cabinet minister in charge of public service, said Sunday the arrests have put the government in a bad light. The transport and health ministers called for a review of the ISA law.

Abdullah hasn't commented on the arrests, but Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar has defended the action as necessary to prevent racial tensions from flaring.

Anwar's alliance is holding a mass rally late Monday in a suburb outside Kuala Lumpur to protest the government crackdown, which he said was aimed at foiling his plans to take power.

Anwar needs 30 defections for his People's Alliance to secure a parliamentary majority to topple Abdullah's National Front coalition, which has been in power since independence in 1957.

He said he has enough support but indicated the plan may be delayed by the arrests, which have also been widely criticized by lawyers and rights groups.

The United States has summoned Malaysia's ambassador in Washington for an explanation of the arrests, but Foreign Minister Rais Yatim has told the U.S. not to interfere.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Action Party said it would file a court application Monday to free its lawmaker Teresa Kok, who was arrested after allegedly complaining about the noise of morning prayers from a mosque.

Raja Petra Kamarudin, editor of news Web site Malaysia Today, was held for publishing articles that the government says created racial tension.

The developments underscored an increasing sense of political insecurity in the multiracial country that has long been considered one of Southeast Asia's most stable territories.