Malaysia's Islamic opposition accuses U.S. of kid-gloving prime minister

[54anickel]

over nuclear scandal.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/03/05/international1203EST0563.DTL

The fundamentalist Islamic opposition opened its election campaign Friday by claiming Washington is going easy on the prime minister about Malaysia's role in supplying a nuclear black market because it wants him returned to power.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's party will go head-to-head with the fundamentalists, Malaysia's largest opposition group, which made strong gains at the polls in 1999. Officials announced Friday the election would be held March 21.

The election could signal whether fundamentalism is moving into the political mainstream in Malaysia, one of the Islamic world's most moderate and progressive states but which has arrested scores of terrorist suspects in the past three years.

snip>
He said, "U.S. foreign policy is to protect its interests and they will never allow the establishment of an Islamic government anywhere."

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