KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - The son of the spiritual leader of Malaysia's opposition Islamic fundamentalist party was arrested Saturday under harsh internal security laws that have netted 10 people in two days.
Nik Adli Nik Abdul Aziz, a religious teacher, was arrested in part of sweep that the police say is aimed at crushing a little-known militant group accused of waging a violent campaign to install a hard-line Islamic state.
Nine other people accused of belonging to the so-called Mujahidin Militant Group have been detained since Thursday. The arrests were carried out under the Internal Security Act, which allows for detention without trial.
The country's leading opposition party said the roundup was a veiled maneuver against its campaign to force the government to revoke a two-week-old ban on political rallies.
Nik Adli, 34, is the son of Nik Aziz Nik Mat, chief minister of Kelantan state and a senior leader of the fundamentalist Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, which is the strongest member of Malaysia's four-party opposition coalition.
The party has carried out dozens of political gatherings despite the ban. A major turnout planned for Saturday was canceled when police took up positions in force a day before.
At least six of the alleged Mujahidin militants arrested since Thursday are members of the party, known as PAS, which bled significant support from the party of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in general elections in 1999.
``The police definitely know what has happened and if by coincidence the individuals arrested are PAS members we can't help it,'' Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said.
On Friday, national police chief Norian Mai said that the operations were aimed at renegades trained in Afghanistan who had carried out robberies, murders and attacks on temples and churches in Malaysia.
Though weaker opposition groups have suffered arrests in recent months under the Internal Security Act, the government had left the fundamentalists alone, wary of further alienating the predominant Malay Muslim ethnic group.
Both the fundamentalists and Mahathir's ruling United Malays National Organization compete for votes among Malay Muslims.
AP-NY-08-04-01 1348EDT
Copyright 2001 The Associated Press.