The United Nations office in Kuala Lumpur today received two memoranda from opposition party PAS protesting against a recent UN report linking several Malaysian organisations, including PAS and Barisan Nasional, to 'terrorist' groups.

The two memoranda, submitted by PAS' international affairs bureau chief Dr Mohd Hatta Ramli and Youth chief Mahfuz Omar (photo), said the UN monitoring group on global terrorism, which prepared the report, had acted in bad faith by publishing unverified allegations against the named organisations.

"We feel that it is unfair for these allegations to be made without any proof or reasons. Our only contention is that the allegations were made to tarnish our image for being a good observer of democracy," said Mohd Hatta during a press conference after the handover of the memoranda at Wisma UN in Kuala Lumpur.

PAS' concerns will be conveyed to the secretary-general's office and a response will be sought to their calls for a retraction of the allegations, said Maxine Olson, the Resident Representative of the UN Development Programme for Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, on receiving the memoranda.

The secretary-general's office in New York did not respond to questions faxed over by malaysiakini yesterday.

Aside from the two political parties, other organisations named in the report are the Islamic Youth Movement of Malaysia (Abim), the Indian Muslim Congress of Malaysia (Kimma), the Movement of Islamic Unity (APU), the Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement (MIYM), the Islamic Front of Malaysia (IFM) and the Front Malaysian Islamic Council (FMIC).

However, APU and MIYM are said to have disbanded while the IFM and the FMIC are said to be non-existent.

BN listing 'lucky'

Speaking to reporters later, Mohd Hatta said the allegations linking PAS indirectly to al-Qaeda via its connection to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a southern Philippines separatist group, had damaged the party's image and caused its members anxiety.

"We feel that we have been suppressed by the government. Now, (we are also suppressed) by international bodies for no obvious reasons," he said.

"We have been in existence for many years and we had been part of the government. We are governing two states following democratic processes. There is no reason for us to be involved in any form of terrorism," he added.

Mohd Hatta said the allegations could have caused more harm to the party if BN had not been included in the list of organisations allegedly linked to al-Qaeda.

"If BN had not been named, the government could have taken strong action against us. They would claim that this is an international report and that all international reports must be respected. Luckily for us, BN is also listed so we have a reprieve," he said.

Hearsay

To a question on the party's connections with the MILF, Mohd Hatta just that that MILF was an organisation recognised by the Philippines government.

"The MILF is a legitimate body in the Philippines. The Philippines government had met the MILF in and out of their country. They also had meetings in Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan, brokered by the Malaysian government. It is no big deal," he said.

The controversial UN report submitted to the United Nations Security Council carried a chart listing the Malaysian organisations as having ideological and political links with the MILF. The MILF, in turn, is said to be linked to al-Qaeda.

The chart was drawn based on extracts from a book, Inside al-Qaeda, global network of terror , by Dr Rohan Gunaratna, a visiting fellow at Singapore's Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies.

Gunaratna has since come under heavy criticism for publishing material which is said to be unverified.

Asked for his comments on the material published in Gunaratna's book, Mohd Hatta said the party consider the information in the book as mere hearsay aimed at gaining publicity for the author.

"Because of this kind of publicity, (Gunaratna's) books were sold in large numbers. I think that is his purpose. We do not take his writings seriously.

"However, we take very seriously the UN's contention that his writings are right. That is a very serious allegation," he said.

Covert operations

In his memorandum addressed to the UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, PAS Youth Chief Mahfuz said Malaysia is not a terrorist country and neither are PAS and Abim terrorist organisations.

"Since when had Malaysia attack any independent and sovereign state as has been done by the United States? Unfortunately, the UN has blinded itself to the actions of the US in strongly supporting the Israelis against the Palestinians, and in infringing on the sovereignty of other countries.

"The UN has become a lackey to the US in its desire to carry out global Americanisation," said the memorandum.

Meanwhile, Keadilan president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said the government should not summarily dismiss the allegations made in the UN report without first carrying out their own investigations.

"One would reasonably expect a responsible government to instruct the police to conduct a full and thorough investigation...The failure to conduct investigations would affect the government's credibility and puts into question its resolve in combating terrorism," she said in a press statement.

In addition, Wan Azizah said it is imperative that the government responded to the allegations in the UN report as any inaction would have "ramifications with regard to our relations with our neighbours".

"What is being alleged against the BN is that certain leaders were involved in covert operations in assisting militant groups undermining the security of neighbouring countries.

"The assertion may seem frivolous as it runs contrary to our stated foreign policy objectives," she said.

In his book, Gunaratna said that "several individual members of political parties in Malaysia" had maintained links with the MILF, which he linked with al-Qaeda.

However, he told malaysiakini yesterday that he did not think key political leaders in the party were aware of these connections.