The Internal Security Ministry has defended its action in confiscating copies of PAS organ Harakah, claiming that the publisher had violated the conditions of the permit.

An officer with the ministry's enforcement unit said two clauses of the permit had been breached.

"Two clauses were added to the permit effective 2006 - the publication is only to be sold to PAS members and in PAS offices, not on shelves accessible by the public," he told malaysiakini.

He pointed out that the ministry had issued letters to those caught selling the newsletter to the public.

He was responding to Harakah chief editor Ahmad Lutfi Othman's allegations that copies of the December issue were confiscated because it featured a photograph of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi with his hand on actress Michelle Yeoh's bare arm.

Lutfi had written in his column in Harakahdaily.net that the copies were confiscated in Subang, Bangi, Ampang, Chow Kit, Masjid India and Terengganu.

When contacted for elaboration, he said: "There is no reason why Harakah should be confiscated. If we can, we want to report to the police about this."

However, he also said he has not yet spoken to the distributors and that he had learnt of this from his officers in those areas.

"I am waiting for further information on this matter," he said.

"The ministry was cruel in confiscating Harakah. It is bad enough that the frequency of publication has dwindled from twice a week to twice a month. It does not 'bite' the government any more, why are they so worried?"

He noted that Harakah has lost its function as a "newspaper" because of restrictive conditions attached to the permit, which is due to expire in March.