'Miliants are our brothers-in-arms'

Malaysian PAS chief Abdul Hadi Awang yesterday embraced Hamas and Islamic Jihad militant groups openly as brothers-in-arms and said that Palestinian suicide bombers were martyrs giving up their lives to save thousands.

His declaration is a measure of how much Muslim sentiments here have shifted in the two years since Sept 11.

Sympathy towards the United States over the tragedy and fear of being tagged a militant sympathiser have given way way to open support of organisations viewed by the West as terrorist groups.

Datuk Hadi Awang said: 'PAS will always be with our friends from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, even though they have been labelled as terrorists or criminals by the imperialist power United States and the Zionist regime in Israel.'

During a press conference, the PAS president said the Jemaah Islamiah bombing of the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta 'is not allowed in Islam', drawing a distinction between such attacks and Palestinians and Chechnyans fighting oppression.

ed: PAS is Malaysia's Islamist political party and the biggest opposition party there. it has over 400,000 members. note i do not know the general sentiment of those who consider themselves members of PAS.