PAS is threatening to sue a local Malay daily for a "contorted" news report in its front page today which party leaders said was intended to "demonise and alienate" them from the rakyat .

Utusan Malaysia reported today in 'Fadzil: Kempen sokong PAS masuk syurga tetap diteruskan' ('Support PAS, Enter Heaven' campaign will continue) that party president Fadzil Noor would press on with the campaign to "promise supporters a place in heaven" in his political ceramahs .

The newspapers added that according to Fadzil, PAS' policy was to remind the rakyat of the party's struggles, and heaven was the compensation for those who backed the party.

He was reported to have also said that there was no question of the party inviting all Muslims to return to Islam's fold, and this shouldn't be misconstrued as corruption or money politics.

"This is our (PAS) responsibility to remind people that we need to be obedient to the teachings of Islam as provided in the Quran and Hadith," Fadzil, who is also the opposition leader, was quoted as saying in the story.

He was said to be responding to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's statement in Parliament on Monday that it was easier to handle money politics than corruption through "promises made in heaven" as there were laws already in place to tackle the former.

"What is difficult to curtail is corruption through promises made in heaven whereby those asked to support the ones who are not so qualified or popular, are promised a place in heaven," said Mahathir during the question-and-answer session.

"Those involved in this kind of corruption are not only involved in corruption but a very big lie," he added, further saying that the only way to curb such corrupt practices was by having a conscience or by fearing God.

Apologise publicly

In a press statement today, Fadzil said the report was "irresponsible, malicious, just an assumption and merely a concoction of the press".

"I said promises from heaven comes from God, not PAS. The Quran and Hadith promise heaven for those who do welfare services," he said.

"The kind of welfare encouraged by Islam is to imbibe the teachings of Islam into our whole way of life. PAS urged Muslims to heed the call of Islam as this is the responsibility of all Muslims," he added.

Fadzil demanded Utusan to apologise publicly to all PAS members for the contorted news, retract the story and place a clarification on the front page.

Meanwhile, Fadzil's political secretary Dr Mohd Hatta Mohd Ramli vehemently denied that the opposition leader had made the statement as reported by the daily.

According to him, Fadzil did talk to the journalist who wrote the story, but they mostly discussed other issues.

Slanderous report

"This act by Utusan is slanderous and only meant to tarnish our party's image," Hatta told malaysiakini .

"This is Barisan Nasional's way of spooking our Malay supporters by trying to link us with the black metal controversy and trends of militancy among students in campuses," he added.

Hatta said he was "disappointed" that such "uncivilised and irresponsible" journalism was practised in the government-controlled media.

"The newspaper should be ashamed of itself. This kind of reporting will not help develop a well-informed and civil society," he said.

"It only confirms our perception that the mainstream or government-controlled media are no longer credible," he added.

However, Hatta was confident that BN's "propaganda and lies" would not influence the rakyat who "love the truth".

"I am positive that the people are matured and intelligent enough to differentiate truth from lies," he added.

Hatta vowed that PAS would proceed with legal action against the daily and urged all newspapers to stop such "disgusting journalism and focus on professional and ethical reporting" instead.