Black 505: Meeting with cops called off

Hours after Pakatan Rakyat leaders said they had been asked to meet the Dang Wangi police chief for a discussion over the Black 505 rally, the latter was instead summoned to Bukit Aman for a meeting with his superiors.

"The meeting is off," chuckled PKR's strategic director Rafizi Ramli, adding that this would not deter them from continuing their plan to hold the rally this Saturday at Padang Merbok.

Reiterating that the police should be allowed to make a decision without any interference from Putrajaya, Rafizi said the police had been co-operative from the start.

"I appreciate that they wanted to meet but I knew that this was subject to approval from the powers-that-be," he added.

Earlier today, Rafizi, DAP's Loke Siew Fook and PAS member Syed Azman Syed Ahmad Nawawi were called to the Dang Wangi police headquarters for a talk with the police chief Assistant Commissioner Zainuddin Ahmad on “safety issues for the comfort of every party” at this Saturday's rally.

Rafizi had also commented earlier that this had showed the willingness of the police to accommodate the rally organisers' request to hold the gathering at Padang Merbok. "It looked positive," Rafizi had said.

Rafizi had also earlier tweeted that a run organised by the Olympic Council of Malaysia, which was supposed to tale place on Sunday at Padang Merbok, had been cancelled due to the haze.

City Hall had denied the rally organisers permission to use the field because of the run, citing that OCM needed to make preparations the day before.

Meanwhile Federal Internal Security and Public Order director Datuk Seri Salleh Mat Rasid said police would seek help from the army to handle whatever situation that could arise if the opposition went on with their plans for the rally.

"At the moment we are stil capable of ensuring security. We are in constant communications with the army and they will be called in if we need their help," he told Bernama. - June 20, 2013.