Malaysia's prime minister today warned that action would be taken against anyone who inflamed religious issues, warning it could cause tensions in the multi-ethnic country.

"I hope all of us can understand that if we play with sensitive issues like religion, it will create an uneasy situation," premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was quoted as saying by Bernama news agency.

"It may force the government to take action," he said, without elaborating on the punitive measures being considered.

Newspaper reports said that in a cabinet meeting yesterday Abdullah ordered a halt to the discussion of religious issues which may cause ethnic strain, and that the order was also directed at the media.

Controversial court cases

The Utusan Malaysia Malay-language newspaper said the cabinet made the decision after an alliance of civil society groups known as Article 11 began roadshows across the country to campaign for more religious freedom.

In May, a mob of 500 ethnic Malay Muslims - the majority in Malaysia which also has large ethnic Indian and Chinese communities - forcibly stopped one of the Article 11 forums in the island state of Penang.

Race-relations in Malaysia have become increasingly strained recently after a series of controversial court cases.

In one incident that created outrage, an Islamic court ruled that a Hindu man be give a Muslim burial against the wishes of his family, after Islamic religious officers claimed he had converted.