A government lawmaker has alleged that money from a Muslim welfare organisation in Malaysia has been channelled to a rebel group in southern Thailand, a report said today.

The outlawed Pattani United Liberation Organisation (PULO), which is fighting for a separate Islamic state, had been given RM120,000, Annuar told the state assembly in Kelantan, which borders Thailand, the New Straits Times said.

The money was donated by the Kelantan branch of the Malaysian Islamic Welfare Organisation, and represented 10 percent of the RM1.2 million which the charity had received from a timber concession, Annuar said.

"I urge the state government to investigate this matter thoroughly to find out what is going on," he said, adding that PULO was given 10 percent because the timber was logged along the border.

PAS unaware

Kelantan is the only one of Malaysia's 13 states which is ruled by the opposition Islamic party PAS. Annuar is the state chief of the Umno.

Kelantan social development and finance planning committee chairman Husam Musa said the state government was unaware that money had been given to PULO.

More than 550 people have been killed since January in separatist-inspired violence in the south of mainly Buddhist Thailand, where the Muslim majority shares a kinship with Malays across the border in Kelantan.

The Thai government has expressed concern that some Muslim activists seek shelter in Malaysia, but Malaysia has pledged full support against the insurgency.