|
Asiaweek Reports Malaysia Supports Philippine Separatist Movement
by Kazi Mahmood for IslamOnline
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 28 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Asiaweek magazine, a popular weekly on Asian affairs, is claiming that Malaysian authorities have been secretly supporting the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in the Philippines.
The distributors of the magazine fear the latest edition of the magazine may be banned from circulation in Malaysia due to the nature, and revelation, of the sensitive information.
The latest issue of the weekly has yet to hit the streets following an unexplained delay emanating from the Home Affairs Ministry in granting permission for the issue to be sold to the public.
The fear follows Malaysian government censors delaying the sale of at least three foreign news magazines this week, including Asiaweek.
In addition to Asiaweek, the Far Eastern Economic Review, both of which normally go on sale on Saturday, have, so far, not been cleared for sale in Malaysia as of Wednesday afternoon.
The Economist, which also normally goes on sale Saturday, was cleared Wednesday morning.
One industry source said Time and Newsweek were also delayed before being cleared for sale but there was no immediate confirmation of this.
Ministers and pro-government media have launched a barrage of criticism in recent weeks against the Western media for alleged biased and inaccurate reporting.
"I have no comment on the matter," said Rohaizad Abdul Rahim, press secretary to Home Affairs Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, when asked about the delay in releasing the news magazines for sale.
The control of publications division is part of the home ministry.
Officials at the division were said to be unavailable for comment. The information ministry's press officer said he know nothing about the matter.
"We have not been told anything," said Asiaweek editor Dorinda Elliott, adding that she had no idea when this week's edition would be released.
"This has not happened before as far as we can recall," she told AFP.
The Review's managing editor Michael Vatikiotis also said his magazine had been given no information on the reason for the delay.
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's government has for years fiercely criticized the Western media but has made no overt moves to suppress its operations or to control sales in Malaysia.
The latest round of attacks began February 1st when Mahathir accused Asiaweek of deliberately using a cover photograph of him which makes him look like "an idiot."
The photo accompanied an interview with the veteran premier. Mahathir did not say that he had been misquoted.
Three days later the government announced it would set up a committee to handle what it called inaccurate reports in the foreign media.
Asiaweek sells more than 25,000 copies in Malaysia, its largest sales in any country.
The Asiaweek article, addressing the controversial MILF subject, is entitled 'The new crusade' and was written by Roger Mitton. The article, in general, is about the rise of "radical" Islam in Southeast Asia.
The story also gives the impression that Malaysian authorities are formally supporting an opposition group fighting against a democratically elected regime in an ASEAN country.
Mitton arranged an interview with Ghazali Jaafar, a MILF leader, thanks to arrangements made with the help of a Malaysian businessman, identified only as Yusof.
Ghazali had been on ex-Philippine president Joseph Estrada's regime's most wanted list on murder charges, which have since been dropped by the Philippine government following a ceasefire declared by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo a week ago.
"Immediate business concluded, Yusof then brings out pictures taken last year of Ghazali sitting down with Malaysian Information Minister Khalil Yaakob.
"A Muslim rebel having friendly chats with a senior politician from another ASEAN country? Yusof, both conduit and donor, doesn't blink. 'There is private support for the Moros among all Muslims,' he says unapologetically. 'I do what I can, quietly, like other Malaysian businessmen,'" wrote Mitton.
The article overtly states that the Malaysian government supports the Moro fighters.
"At a safe house in Mindanao, MILF military commander Al-Haji Murad, who was also wanted for murder, is frank about his pedigree. Around him are MILF soldiers with polished boots and modern machine guns. 'My deputy and I did a year of special training for guerrilla warfare in Malaysia in the early 1970s,' says Murad."
Mitton said Malaysian government support for Muslim separatists in the region has officially ceased, but contacts remain at top levels.
In the recent past, Malaysian businessmen helped negotiate the release of Malaysian hostages captured by the Abu Sayyaf group in Simpadan Island, off the coast of Sabah in Borneo.
Press reports say Malaysian authorities paid for the release of a majority of the hostages, who were of various ethnic origins.
Mahathir Mohamed has vehemently denied that this country paid the Abu Sayyaf any ransom money for the release of hostages, but added that private parties might have negotiated the settlement to a certain degree with the breakaway Moro separatists.
The U.S. State Department, in its annual human rights survey for last year, said that in Malaysia "government restrictions, pressure, and intimidation led to a high degree of press self-censorship."
Last year, the home affairs ministry severely curbed the circulation of the opposition newspaper Harakah and refused to renew the permit for several smaller publications seen as pro-opposition.
|
