KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Malaysia's king on Monday called for the country's Muslims to heal their divisions, lending royal weight to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's call for Malay unity talks with the country's Islamic opposition.
Sultan Salahuddin Aziz, the country's constitutional monarch, in a televised address marking the Muslim New Year, said the destruction of the Muslim community, called "ummah," must be averted.
"The annihilation of the ummah is a nightmare that haunts us and we must not let this fear become reality," the king said, according to Bernama news agency.
The Muslim Malay ethnic majority, who account for 55 percent of Malaysia's 22 million people, were badly split by the humiliation of Mahathir's former deputy, Anwar Ibrahim, currently serving a 15-year jail sentence sex and graft crimes.
The fate of Anwar, who says he was framed to forestall a challenge to Mahathir, remains the single most divisive issue among Malays.
Mahathir's United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) won less than half the Malay votes in the last election, a year and a half ago, and his coalition depends on support from parties representing the country's Chinese and Indian, largely non-Muslim, minorities.
Malaysia was rocked earlier this month by racial violence in which six people died in a poor area outside Kuala Lumpur after clashes between Malays and ethnic Indians. A string of subsequent attacks on Indians raised police suspicions that a gang of Malay extremists could be involved.
The King said political differences should be set aside if the country's Muslims are to avoid jeopardising their future prosperity.
"We will not let differing views over secondary matters be harped on to the extent of negating efforts to achieve unity," he said.
Mahathir has sought talks with leaders of Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS), which leads the four party opposition front, since the start of the year as a way of winning back favour with the country's Muslim Malay ethnic majority.
PAS backed out of talks at the eleventh hour last month, presenting a set of pre-conditions and saying the timing was bad.
PAS and UMNO are holding technical level talks to clear obstacles to a meeting of their leaders.
The country's figurehead rulers last week appeased PAS somewhat, by supporting its right to use Islam in the name of a political party, despite objections from UMNO.
The conference of rulers, which groups Malaysia's sultans and state governors, said it was alright to have an Islamic name so long as it did not confuse people or deviate from true Muslim teachings.
Muslim clerics running PAS usually deliver their message during Friday prayers at the mosque or at specially organised social/religious gatherings.
Defence Minister Najib Razak, according to Bernama news agency, on Sunday called on PAS to officially reject claims PAS voters will go to heaven.
PAS President Fadzil Noor has denied that his party uses this tactic. But, Najib, who is also UMNO's vice-president, said grassroots PAS members were using this ploy to draw support.
PAS is pushing for an Islamic state, while UMNO, which has led the country's coalitions since independence, champions ethnic Malay interests but takes a more progressive stance on Islam.
06:31 03-26-01
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