The latest issues of two weekly foreign magazines have yet to hit the streets following an unexplained delay by the Home Affairs Ministry in granting permission for them to be sold to the public.

The Far Eastern Economic Review and Asiaweek magazines, with a cover date of March 1 and 2 respectively, are still without release letters from the ministry.

According to the magazines' Malaysian distributor, Magazine Services (M) Sdn Bhd, the release letters for the sale of the foreign publications were usually given at the beginning of each week.

"Normally, we will submit the latest copies of the magazines to the ministry for censorship purposes on Fridays and their approval will come the next day, or if not, by the following Monday," said an official.

No response

The magazines will then be sold to the public as well as sent to subscribers six days before their cover date, he added.

Home Affairs Ministry officials declined to comment on the matter when contacted by malaysiakini .

Malaysiakini was told that the two persons responsible over the matter, including the ministry's Publications Control Unit chief Tengku Mahmood Tengku Ismail, were away for the day.

The Magazine Services official said that the ministry also took a long time to approve the sale of the latest issues of three other foreign new magazines - The Economist , Newsweek and Time .

"They were only approved for public sale yesterday. Their sale would also normally be approved together with the Review and Asiaweek ."

"We have not received any letter from the ministry stating if this week's Review and Asiaweek have been banned. Maybe the ministry will give the release letters tomorrow," he said.

The official also said that the delay was not a normal thing, adding that it was "a long time ago" when such a delay by the ministry took place.

The official had no idea as to the reasons for the delay in getting the release letters.

Internet versions

Internet versions of the current editions of both magazines are already on-line since last Thursday for the Review and Sunday for Asiaweek .

In Review 's website, among the stories included an article on the recent Malay gathering organised by the Malay Action Front.

The article, entitled [#1] 'Shaking the party grip on power[/#] ' was written by Lorien Holland and stated that the rally had created a fear within Umno on its grip of a half-century of political dominance.

"Accusing Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad of cronyism and authoritarianism is the bread and butter of Malaysia's opposition parties. But on Feb 4, it was card-carrying members of his own ruling coalition who broke ranks to do that very same thing. Their attack at a 3,000-strong rally in the heart of Kuala Lumpur made politicians across the spectrum sit up sharply," the article began.

The article quoted the Opposition's Keadilan youth leader Mohamad Ezam Nor as saying, "It is very rare to see people from his (Mahathir's) own party coming out against him."

Time to go

Holland wrote that Mahathir faced a "snowballing of whispers - spread in part by several senior Umno officials - saying he is playing into the hands of the Opposition and is no longer up to the job."

Rally organiser Ibrahim Ali had said that the rally was held to unite the Malay race and for them to realise their rights and privileges. The rally was held on early last month at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur.

The article added that only two of the dozen speakers took the established route to shore up Malay support by focusing on the 'threat' of the ethnic-Chinese population.

"To the delight of the crowd and the horror of Mahathir's supporters, other speakers - who were largely sidelined Umno politicians - went straight for the jugular: Malay support was falling off because Umno was out of touch. Umno had to listen to its electorate and wipe out corruption and cronyism. Mahathir needed to clean up his cabinet.

"In particular, the government's decision to buy back a controlling share in Malaysia Airlines, or MAS, from a politically connected businessman was criticised. The cost of the buyback - over twice the current market price of MAS' shares - is an opposition rallying cry, but the government has kept a stony silence about the deal," wrote Holland.

Support for rebels

In Asiaweek's website, there were two articles referring to Malaysia in its latest issue.

The first, [#2] 'The new crusade'[/#] by Roger Mitton, is about the rise of radical Islam in Southeast Asia.

Mitton had written that his interview with Ghazali Jaafar, a leader of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), was arranged with the help of a Malaysian businessman, identified as Yusof. Ghazali is wanted on murder charges by the Philippine government.

"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 stated that the Moro fighters are supported by the Malaysian government.

"At a safe house in Mindanao, MILF military commander Al-Haji Murad, who is 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 that the Malaysian government support for Muslim rebels in the region has officially ceased, but contacts remain at the topmost levels.

In another article, [#3] 'Building a legacy'[/#] , writer Arjuna Ranawana claimed that Malaysia's new administrative capital Putrajaya had Mahathir's personality unmistakably stamped on it despite it being named after the country's first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman.

"The biggest building is the prime minister's department, which is at the centre of everything. A six-storey granite structure the size of several city blocks, with green windows topped with a green dome, it dominates the city in the same way that Mahathir has exercised a supreme influence over his country since he became prime minister two decades ago," wrote Ranawana.

Committee on foreign media

Recently the government formed a committee to deal with inaccurate reports about Malaysia that appeared in foreign media.

The committee, to be the joint responsibilities of the information and foreign ministries, aimed to focus on matters that have been deliberately misreported.

This came about following a publication of a photo of Mahathir in the Jan 26 issue of Asiaweek . Mahathir had noted his displeasure with the picture which he said was an attempt by the magazine to portray him as an "idiot" and a tired-looking man.

Following the first committee meeting on Feb 22, Information Minister Khalil Yaakob said the committee would find ways to overcome the problem of negative reporting on the country by the foreign print and electronic media and to correct untruths.

"We will also recommend several steps to the government to counter foreign media attacks," he said but declined to elaborate on the proposals.

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