About 1,000 people gathered at the Ipoh City Hall field this afternoon to declare their support for the Malay Rulers.

umno youth rally 090209 crowd 01 The event was organised by Umno Youth and several NGOs including GPMS.

Umno Youth members came in from other states like Selangor, Penang, Negri Sembilan and Kedah to joun their Perak counterparts at the gathering.

Many attended the event wearing a yellow ribbon on their forehead inscribed with 'Daulat Tuanku' in red.

A small number of policemen kept a clear distance from the gathering which appeared to be peaceful.

'Banish Nizar from Perak'

umno youth rally 090209 khairy 02 According to GPMS vice-president Jais Abdul Karim, the rally was held to protect the rights of the Malays and the Malay Rulers.

"Elements like Karpal Singh who do not respect the sultans should disappear from the face of the earth", he added.

The crowd held banners, one of which read 'Nizar penderhaka Melayu Zaman moden', and shouted 'Daulat Tuanku'.

Umno Youth deputy leader Khairy Jamaluddin and Umno Putera chief Abdul Aziz were also sighted among the crowd.

In his short address at the gathering, Khairy suggested that the Perak Sultan should banish Mond Nizar from the state as many started to burn posters of the ousted menteri besar on the field.

The event which lasted one-and-a-half hour ended with no untoward incident at 3.30pm.