(AFP) Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on today launched another round of criticism against Malays, questioning the high number of rape and HIV cases among the community.

"Moral among Malays has plunged - we see incidents of rape, murder and HIV cases rising. What is sad is that the majority involved or infected are Malays," Mahathir told participants of a meeting on tolerance.

Mahathir claimed such incidents did not occur much among other minority races (Chinese and Indians). He did not give details.

"Why is it not happening among other races," he said.

Mahathir recently blamed Islamic teachers in the country for the rising social decadence among Malays who account for slightly more than half of the country's 22 million people.

"I say it because I think it is right," he said.

Mahathir said the government had allocated a lot of resources to enhance Islamic education in the country but the religious teachers did not teach religion.

"They teach them that this government is not Islam and are taught to hate the government," he said. "The more Islamic teachers we have, the more problems arise."

The government said it would introduce the merit system for university intakes following poor academic performance by Malay students and their growing anti-government stance.

PAS attacked

In an apparent attack on the opposition Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS), Mahathir said the party had infiltrated pre-school, schools and universities to poison the minds of the students.

"School children are given a plate covered with paper and they are asked to draw a circle and paint green in the centre," he said.

The PAS logo is a green circle representing the moon.

Mahathir's ruling United Malays National Organisation (Umno) considers PAS the main threat to its 43 years of political dominance.

Umno lost 22 parliamentary seats in the 1999 election while PAS more than tripled the number of its seats to 27. Mahathir is Umno president.

The opposition party also retained control of Kelantan state and took over neighbouring Terengganu state in the northern Malay Muslim heartland.

Mahathir's criticism of Malays comes amid the emergence of a "satanic" teenage cult which is said to be spreading among the community.

"They have reached a stage where they, our Malay youths ... are prepared to step on the Koran, tear the Koran and step on the Koran and the Bible," he said recently.