Former inspector-general of police Hanif Omar said pro-communist individuals who were involved in the 1970s demonstrations were seen in Saturday's public rally in Kuala Lumpur which turned violent.

"I recognise from the photos and broadcast images (taken from the rally), the pro-communist people who were involved in the 1970s demonstrations," said Hanif, here, today.

He said: "The tactics of using provocateurs to cause the demonstrators to clash with police and to bring children along in the hope they would get injured were tactics learnt from past pro-communist demonstrations."

Hanif was clarifying a Bernama report yesterday which quoted him as saying that the gathering last Saturday could have been masterminded by various parties, including several individuals who tried to spread the communist ideology.

- Bernama