A row over a Syariah court ruling that Muslim men can divorce their wives via SMS through their mobile phones has outraged women's groups and puzzled the prime minister.

Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who has positioned his country to take advantage of the high-tech information revolution, today said he did not like the idea of divorce by the popular short messaging system (SMS).

"Nowadays we can even divorce our wife by sending messages," he said when launching Swedish telecoms giant Ericsson's RM80 million (US$21 million) regional expertise hub in Multimedia Super Corridor development zone here.

"I am not so keen on that but they say it is perfectly legal, perfectly Islamic. I think that if people want to divorce their wife, they should resort to a much more personal approach than that," he said.

Crying game

"We hope of course that instead of sending messages, you should look at the beautiful wife that you're going to divorce... maybe she would cry a bit and you would change your mind."

Women's groups have had stronger words for the decision last week by the court that a man's pronouncement of divorce via SMS to his wife was valid.

Women's Aid Organisation director Ivy Josiah said the method was: "Distant, cowardly, undignified and rude."

A Muslim man can end his marriage by telling his wife "I divorce you" three times.

Please clarify

Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi later in the day directed the Islamic advancement department to verify the method of SMS divorce.

"I can understand why the women are very worried. There's possibility of being duped through SMS," he was quoted as saying by Bernama news agency.

"There may be fraud because a short service message can be sent by anyone. (We) don't face (them) so we don't know, so the doubt arises. It's alright with a letter because there's a signature." - AFP