(AFP) - Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad today ticked off a reporter from the Internet newspaper malaysiakini , saying she was working for "foreign agent" George Soros.

The reporter asked Mahathir at a press conference about the Human Rights Commission's (Suhakam) call for seven opposition activists detained this week without trial to be immediately released.

But the premier, after being told by the reporter that she was from malaysiakini , said: "You are working for some foreign agent. You can tell Mr Soros not to come and interfere with our politics here."

Malaysiakini has come under criticism from the government for allegedly accepting indirect funding from currency trader Soros, with their staff barred from government functions.

Not excluded

Mahathir did not try to exclude the reporter from the press conference.

The paper denies accepting any money from Soros' Open Society Fund.

Mahathir has said malaysiakini behaved "like traitors" for allegedly accepting Soros' money.

The premier, who once described currency trader Soros as a "moron", accused him and fellow traders of creating the East Asian financial crisis of 1997/98.