The government today vowed to take action against The Economist over what it said was a "baseless" article criticising the leadership of Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Acting Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the London-based weekly has not offered any clarification or apology for the article in its April 5 issue, part of a 16-page feature entitled "The Changing of the Guard - A Survey of Malaysia" to mark Mahathir's resignation in October after 22 years in power.

An excerpt from the article likely to have sparked anger suggested: "The greatest service Dr Mahathir could render Malaysia after all these years would be to retire, full stop."

The government likely also took offence at the weekly's suggestion that Mahathir should be installed as secretary-general of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) after his retirement to "get him out of the country."

Jailer, not guardian

The article also questioned whether Abdullah could "dispense with the authoritarianism that, to many, has made Dr. Mahathir look more than a jailer than guardian of his people."

The government has discussed "effective" action against The Economist to serve as a warning for others writing such "baseless" articles, Abdullah was quoted as saying by Bernama news agency.

Bernama

reported that politicians and university students in Kedah today burnt copies of the offending issue to mark their protest.

Mahathir, who returns from a two-month holiday next month, has pledged to hand over power to Abdullah after hosting a OIC summit from Oct 11-14.

Politicians from Malaysia's ruling coalition have called for a ban o­n the London-based periodical for what they said was an attack o­n the integrity of the 77-year-old veteran Southeast Asian leader.

Abdullah declined to say if measures to be taken could include banning The Economist , and home ministry officials could not be reached for comments.

Serious action

Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said he did not see why international publications that belittle the country and its leaders should continue to circulate locally.

"I think we have to take serious action (on the matter)," he said. "Why should we encourage the sale of such magazines in our country?"

Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang, in a statement today, urged politicians to end the frenzy and focus instead o­n creating the climate for a freer, more responsible and independent press.

Malaysia has previously blocked the distribution of international news magazines out of displeasure over their coverage of issues in the country such as Islam and terrorism. AFP