Participating in peaceful gatherings is a basic civil right, said KeADILan vice president Chua Tian Chang today. He was responding to Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Abdullah Badawi's warning that those holding street protests would be arrested.

Chua had on Monday called on reformasi supporters to demonstrate outside the courthouse when sacked deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim's trial resumes next Tuesday.

"I call upon the Home Minister to respect the rights for peaceful public assembly," said Chua. He said there was no reason to ban public rallies as pro-reformasi protests had been peaceful. On the other hand, he urged Abdullah to caution the security forces to behave professionally and not to provoke violence.

Meanwhile, Abdullah has been invited to substantiate his allegation that PAS leaders in Terengganu are "a vindictive lot" at a DAP- PAS dialogue in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.

According to DAP chairman Lim Kit Siang, Abdullah was incensed that four of the previous seven members of the Terengganu State Religious and Malay Customs Council, namely Dr. Yusof Nor, Abdul Rahman Mohamad, Mohamed Zubir Awang and Engku Embong Abdul Kadir, were removed and replaced.

"Does Abdullah really question the right and propriety of the decision of the new PAS Terengganu state government to remove the two Umno stalwarts, Yusuf Nor and Abdul Rahman, from the council?" asked Lim.

He added that Saturday's dialogue would be the best forum for Terengganu Menteri Besar Hadi Ahmad Awang and senior state exco members, who have confirmed their participation, to respond to Abdullah's allegations.

In addition, Lim also wanted Abdullah to explain Umno's financial mismanagement of the Terengganu state government. He said that Abdullah as Terengganu Umno state chairman should be ready to explain how an oil-rich state, which gets over RM600 million a year in oil royalties, could end up with a colossal debt of RM731.3 million when it was toppled last November.

Abdullah, said Lim, should also give an accounting for the RM90 million loss suffered by the state government as a result of its 30 per cent stake in Gunawan Iron & Steel which recently registered a net loss of RM3.18 million and accumulated current liabilities to the tune of RM195 million and long-term loans of RM389 million.

Lim also announced today that former Lord President Tun Mohamed Suffian would open a meeting of the jurists, lawyers and NGOs on Sunday to discuss whether the new 10th Parliament had been unconstitutionally convened on Dec 20. Opposition MPs staged a mass walkout to protest against the convening of the newly elected Parliament, which they said was not done in accordance to the Constitution.