Malaysia braces for rally

KUALA LUMPUR - Fears have mounted that Malaysian protesters will clash with police in a locked-down capital Saturday after they refused to call off their rally for electoral reforms.

Police have declared the rally in downtown Kuala Lumpur illegal, saying it could cause chaos, and have already arrested some 230 people, including six under a strict security law that allows for detention without trial.

"The police will take whatever action within their power to guarantee that safety and public security is maintained in this country," federal police chief Ismail Omar told reporters late Friday.

But rally organisers have said they will not back down and would gather outside the iconic Merdeka Stadium in downtown Kuala Lumpur in the hope that police would allow them to enter the stadium for the sake of safety.

"We are heading for the stadium," said Andrew Khoo from Bersih, an opposition-backed coalition of civil society groups that is organising the rally.

"We will keep our focus on the basic demands... which is to campaign for free and fair elections. We won't be distracted," he told AFP.

Authorities have told organisers to hold the opposition-backed rally in another stadium, away from the capital, to avoid disrupting business.

But activists have insisted the rally will be peaceful and condemned authorities' "gross overreaction".

Major roads in the capital were closed from midnight Friday, and public buses plying city routes are to be diverted, while long-distance buses are halted at terminals outside Kuala Lumpur.

Police have also obtained a court order to bar 91 leading activists from downtown areas, including the head of the youth wing of the ruling party, which plans to hold a counter-protest outside the stadium.

Gatherings of five or more people need special police permission in Malaysia, which is rarely granted, and authorities have cracked down on protests in the past with water cannon and tear gas.

In 2007, tens of thousands rallied in Kuala Lumpur to call for electoral changes, such as measures to prevent vote-buying and fraud.

The next elections are widely expected to be called within a year, with the Barisan Nasional coalition -- which has ruled the country for more than five decades -- hoping to recover from 2008 losses to a resurgent opposition.

-AFP/wk