Puteri Umno, the wew wing in the ruling party set up to recruit young women lashed out today at PAS for treating women as "second-class citizens".

The movement, aimed at those aged 18-35, joined in the chorus of protests against PAS' plans to introduce Islamic syariah law.

Puteri Umno leader Azalina Othman Said said a PAS plan to enact a version of syariah in Terengganu which it controls was not based on true Islamic teachings and would victimise women.

"A rape victim who reports to the authorities without any witnesses faces the risks of being caned up to 80 times and if she is impregnated, she is considered to have committed adultery and will also be punished.

Azalina said that Umno rejected the move as "discrimination towards women".

She added that out of 20 of 193 seats in the federal parliament were taken by women lawmakers. Although PAS is the main opposition party with 27 seats, it has not one woman member in parliament.

"We symphathise with the women's fate in PAS. Their women intentionally allow their fate to be decided by the men. They have never been given any recognition," she told delegates.

"They are second-class citizens in their own party. The pretty ones are not encouraged to work and in fact, all women are told to just stay in the kitchen."

Heading for hell

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad yesterday vowed to block PAS plan to enact syariah laws in Terengganu, describing the party as a deviationist and warned its leaders they could be headed for hell.

Syariah criminal law which PAS wants to introduce, carries punishments such as stoning to death for adultery and amputation of limbs for theft, and has been widely opposed by women's groups and other civil activists.

Puteri Umno was set up in August last year to narrow the generation gap with older members in the women's wing and to attract the younger and more modern women voters.

The wing is expected to be officially endorsed Thursday when Mahathir launches the Umno annual assembly.

Puteri Umno has some 50,000 members after embarking on an aggressive recruitment drive through holding aerobic classes, sports, self-defence lessons and beauty classes, official Suraya Yaacob told AFP .

There has been rivalry between puteri and the women wing for members but Azalina earlier in her speech acknowledged contributions made by the women's wing, led by Trade Minister Rafidah Aziz.

"Puteri is grateful to the women's wing and has no intention to overtake their role in Umno but we do ask to be given trust to follow our own path," she said.

The women's wing is the biggest entity in Umno, with some 1.7 million members accounting for more than half of Umno's 2.9 million members.