(AFP) Two opposition parties involved in a rift over plans for the creation of an Islamic state began a secret meeting today aimed at averting a breakup, a party official said.

Ronnie Liu, publicity chief of the Chinese-dominated DAP confirmed the meeting with the mainly Malay PAS but declined to reveal the location.

Liu said the meeting, attended by top leaders, was to prevent a split among the opposition.

"For DAP, we want PAS to remove the obstacle for cooperation -- its plan to introduce an Islamic state," he said.

"We cannot work with PAS if it remains adamant about introducing an Islamic state in a multi-racial country," he told AFP .

The Barisan Alternatif opposition alliance includes PAS, DAP, Keadilan and PRM.

'Extreme concern'

Leaders of the grouping say their aim is to create a single more racially-mixed party to compete for votes with Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's 13-member ruling Barisan Nasional coalition.

But Liu said that over the last couple of weeks PAS has been publicising its ideas of creating an Islamic state if it comes to power.

"This is causing extreme concern among our supporters. They are jittery. PAS must realise that if it pushes for an Islamic state, the opposition front will collapse," he said.

Liu said the possibility of DAP pulling out of the opposition front was non-existent.

"The people (PAS) causing the trouble should leave," he said.

Keadilan and PRM have also expressed reservations over PAS's plans for an Islamic state but have not come out strongly like the DAP for fear of offending ethnic Malays.