Islamic non-governmental organisations have called on Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to display determination and courage in handling issues concerning the interest of the religion.

The NGOs claimed that Abdullah did not answer numerous questions which were raised by their representatives during a meeting with the premier in Putrajaya last Friday.

Teras Pengupayaan Melayu (Teras) president Mohd Azmi Abdul Hamid, who was present at the meet, said Abdullah had addressed the questions in a general manner.

"Many proposals and queries were raised but the premier merely replied 'we'll look into it'.

"He (Abdullah) wrote and listened a lot (at the meeting) on specific issues, but we want immediate answers such as on the issue of certain quarters attempting to interfere with Islam," he added when contacted today.

Friday's meeting was attended by 30 Islamic NGOs, including Jemaah Islah Malaysia (JIM), Persatuan Ulama Malaysia (PUM) and Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (Abim).

Also present were Abdullah's religious affairs advisor Abdul Hamid Othman, parliamentary secretary to the Prime Minister's Department Mashitah Ibrahim and Jabatan Kemajuan Islam (Jakim) director-general Mustafa Abdul Rahman.

Abolish OSA

Mohd Azmi said Abdullah had requested the NGOs to air the problems faced by Muslims in the country and suggest ways to resolve them.

"We provided numerous suggestions and now, it is up to him if he wants to implement them or not," he added.

Mohd Azmi said the NGOs had also expressed their concern over the corruption, abuse of power and lack of transparency in certain government agencies.

Commenting about the same meeting, JIM president Zaid Kamaruddin said he had raised the importance of forming a credible government.

"JIM and the Islamic NGOs want the Official Secrets Act (OSA) to be abolished because it prevents the public from obtaining important information.

"I also urged the prime minister to end corruption in the government, including in the area of contract issuance," he told malaysiakini.

According to him, Abdullah told the NGOs that the Muslim community is weak because there is no unity and much fault-finding.