(AFP) Nursery schools became Malaysia's latest ideological battlefield today as the Islamic opposition reacted angrily to a reported government threat to close its kindergartens.

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad gave the warning after accusing Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) of teaching pre-school children to hate the government, The Star newspaper reported.

But PAS denied the allegation, telling AFP Mahathir was attempting to tighten his political control by cutting the biggest opposition party off from the people.

The latest threat was a continuation of measures to muzzle PAS, which has been painted by the government as a Taliban-in-waiting, said Mahfuz Omar, PAS youth chief and lawmaker.

Mahathir has suggested that PAS is linked to an alleged plot by Afghan-trained militants to overthrow the government by force.

Twenty-two members of the Malaysian Militant Group (KMM) are being held under the Internal Security Act (ISA), which provides for detention without trial, deputy home minister Zainal Abidin Zin said on Monday.

Mahfuz Omar said hundreds of PAS-run pre-schools around the country taught the children "religion, languages and mathematics ... to enable them to be prepared when they enter year one."

Politics of hatred

But Mahathir said on Monday that "teachers in most of these kindergartens do not restrict their teachings to religious matters but also include politics like teaching their young to hate the government and certain leaders," the Star reported.

"Many parents, including many government supporters, have been tricked into sending their children to these kindergartens because they wanted their children to learn about religion early but only later did they realise that their children were being taught politics and hatred."

Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, PAS spiritual leader and chief minister of Kelantan state said the party would sack any teacher found to influence students to hate the government.

"If there are any teachers who indulge in such activities, we will remove them," he was quoted as saying by Bernama news agency.

The chief minister said the government should not take any action without first advancing evidence to support its allegation.

Mahathir said the relevant authorities would be asked to look into existing legislation to see if the pre-schools have run foul of any law.

"We will look into the laws and if necessary we will introduce a new one," he added.

Mahathir said the problem was not confined to the PAS-controlled states of Kelantan and Terengganu, but was nationwide.

Sept 11 attacks

PAS, which wants Malaysia to become a theocratic Islamic state, made strong gains in 1999 elections against Mahathir's government, which it accuses of being corrupt and un-Islamic.

But analysts say the prime minister has regained lost ground since the Sept 11 terror attacks in the United States by playing on fears of Islamic militancy.