Harakah seeks police protection

PAS organ Harakah today lodged a formal complaint with Inspector-General of Police Norian Mai over a threat from an Umno leader to burn its premises.

"Some parties have threatened to burn the headquarters of Harakah in an emotional reaction to a political issue," said its managing director Hishamuddin Yahaya in a letter to the police chief.

"Such fanatical posturing cannot be taken lightly; rather it is a serious matter and with that we request police protection from such threats and the possibility that they may be carried out any time from now," he added in the letter, a copy of which was made available to malaysiakini.

Yesterday, Puteri Umno chief Azalina Othman Said told the wing's annual general assembly that the opposition newspaper's office should be torched.

In her speech, which was telecast live, she urged the Home Ministry to also revoke its publishing permit.

She said this in reaction to a recent cartoon of Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad with a pig's snout in Harakah's latest edition.

This infuriated Umno members who claimed the cartoon drew a comparison between the premier and an animal which is considered a taboo among the Muslims.

Harakah's editor Zulkifli Sulong has since apologised for publishing the cartoon while Mahathir said there was no point in taking action since PAS would not stop doing such things.

The cartoon also drew flak from other leaders, including premier-in-waiting Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

On Tuesday, cartoonist Zunar said he stood by his piece and added that it was not his intention to equate anyone with any animal.

Meanwhile, Hishamuddin also wrote a letter to Indrasia Security, the firm employed by Harakah, requesting tighter surveillance of the areas surrounding its building located along Jalan Pahang in Kuala Lumpur.

"Such threats cannot be taken lightly as there are fanatical parties and hired thugs capable of carrying out crimes of such nature," he said in this letter, a copy of which was also made available to malaysiakini.