News on Malaysia : AFP - Manila (fw

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>Subject: AFP - Manila (fwd)
>
>    Philippine press defends Anwar, likens Mahathir to Marcos
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>    MANILA, Oct 2 (AFP) - Philippine newspapers slammed Malaysian Prime
> Minister Mahathir Mohamad Friday, likening him to dictator Ferdinand
> Marcos  for the "arrest and torture" of his former deputy Anwar Ibrahim.
>    The comments came after President Joseph Estrada said he was
> considering a  boycott of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
> forum in Malaysia  next month to protest Anwar's detention.
>    "The brazen arrest and torture of former deputy prime minister Anwar
> Ibrahim and the suppression of the protest movement that Mahathir
> Mohamad's  shameless act of tyranny sparked, should be condemned in the
> strongest  possible terms by Filipinos and the Philippine government,"
> Today newspaper  said in an editorial.
>    It urged Filipinos "to speak out against the brutal treatment that
> Mahathir's regime is inflicting on Anwar and his supporters, if only
> because  we know only too well what they are going through."
>    The paper recalled Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos' 20-year rule,
> 14  of them under martial law, which it said "taught us that tyranny
> should never  be tolerated."
>    It described Mahathir as a "fading carricature of the Third World
> strongman a la Ferdinand Marcos" and Anwar as a man "who represents the
> future and who -- if he survives his present ordeal -- will most likely
> succeed his tormentor."
>    Neal Cruz, a Philippine Daily Inquirer columnist, compared the
> Malaysian  political conflict to Marcos' treatment of his chief political
> foe, popular  Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino.
>    "What Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad is doing to his deputy
> and  principal rival Anwar Ibrahim, was what President Marcos did to Ninoy
> Aquino  after he declared martial law in 1972," Cruz wrote.
>    Marcos had jailed Aquino for 10 years until he was released for medical
> treatment in the United States.
>    Aquino was assassinated by soldiers loyal to Marcos on his return from
> US  exile in 1983, sparking popular anger that blossomed into the
> bloodless  uprising that three years later ousted Marcos and swept
> Aquino's widow,  Corazon, to the presidency.
>    "Remember the name Anwar. He may be the next great leader of Malaysia.
> Because like most despots, Mahathir is blind to history," Cruz said.
>    The Philippine Star newspaper said in an editorial: "Anwar's injuries
> have  bruised Malaysia. Mahathir should realize that his country is in no
> condition  to absorb more blows."
>    Political analyst Teodoro Benigno said in his Philippine Star column:
> "I  suppose this is the beginning of the end" for Mahathir whom he
> described as a  leader "drunk with power, drunker still with the illusion
> that the world  would roll back at his approaching feet."
>    "Anwar besides is now the idol of Malaysia's middle class. They see in
> him  not just the shield but the lance that can cut through the same
> corruption  that brought down Suharto in Indonesia," Benigno said.
>    On Thursday, Estrada said: "I'm thinking of not going to Malaysia
> because  they put my good friend Anwar behind bars."
>    Press Secretary Rodolfo Reyes said Friday that Estrada was just voicing
> a  "personal" opinion.
>    ASEAN groups Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
> Philippines,  Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The group has maintained a
> policy of  non-interference in each other's internal affairs.
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