Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) advisor Anwar Ibrahim said the government's suspension of two local dailies for reproducing the offensive caricatures of Prophet Mohammad was 'unreasonable and repressive'.

Expressing disagreement with the indefinite suspension of Sarawak Tribune and the more recent two-week suspension slapped on Guangming Daily , he said this contradicted the principle of press freedom.

Anwar, who is also the former deputy premier, said although some kind of action against the two publications might be warranted, it should not have been so harsh.

He called on Malaysians not to allow their anger to be manipulated by the government to further erode fundamental liberties.

"It must not be allowed to be a pretext to incite hatred and it should not be allowed to be manipulated by authoritarian leaders to divert the people's attention from corruption and the lack of freedom.

"We must be wary of the machinations of such leaders to further erode fundamental liberties and media freedom," he told a press conference at his residence in Bukit Damansara, Kuala Lumpur.

'Repressive government'

Asked to elaborate on the issue, Anwar said the government should have resorted to an open discussion with the stakeholders including the media to solve the problem.

"This government is very repressive. The best thing they can think of is to close the papers. They don't want to discuss. What they could have done was get the newspapers to apologise, explain or issue statements appealing for calm or whatever positive measures

"You can't simply suspend, sack and close the media as you wish. It is a semblance of an authoritarian government. The problem is that they don't understand how to deal with the problem. If you are a politician, we arrest you, if you're the media, we close you... that's the only way they know," he added.

Anwar also defended PAS' reaction to the issue - including the call by its president Abdul Hadi Awang to boycott Danish products and the burning of a Danish flag by a PAS assemblymen - which some have viewed as extreme.

"The anger is understandable. Because we hold the Prophet in such high esteem. I think the immediate reaction is ok. But I don't believe that they are pursuing in that manner. I have communicated to them on my statement on the issue and they agree... which means therefore they are moderate in their views.

"Secondly, if you are holding a mass gathering of 10,000 to 15,000 people reacting in anger it is difficult to contain. Similarly I think it's better for Hadi to be effective to come out with something strong at least to appease some of his supporters, put them to rest and move on," he said.

As for the PAS demonstration last week which saw 10,000 Muslims taking to the streets to condemn the cartoon and protest outside the Danish embassy here, Anwar said this was far better than the violence-drenched protests abroad.

On the same note, he criticised the local media for leaving the demonstration out of their coverage.

Back to the Dark Ages

Earlier, Anwar said the caricatures of the prophet constituted a "regression into cultural prejudices of the Dark Ages".

"Not only are Muslims angry but a great number of people of other faiths are also outraged by such callous hypocrisy. The Independent newspaper re-affirmed the report that an earlier cartoon which denigrated Jesus was rejected by the editors as it was deemed offensive to Christians," he said.

He said although the Muslims' anger against the cartoon may be justified, they must not forget that the sanctity of life and property is an important tenet of the religion.

"While we have the right to protest, we must respect the fact that the issue of life and property are fundamental Islamic tenets. Just because you are angry you can't burn houses belonging to people who have no relation to the perpetrated crime or sins," he added.

Anwar is currently in town for five days before returning on Sunday to Georgetown University, Washington DC, where he is a visiting professor.

Apart from holding a number of meetings with civil society groups, Anwar will be delivering a close-door lecture on the 'Agenda of the New Economy' on Saturday night at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

Anwar is expected to complete his Georgetown stint in May.