Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia's dominant political party turned from economic to religious threats on the weekend and called on its leaders to take a tougher line against the intolerance of religious extremism in the Muslim country.
"I am conscious that what I'm saying may not go down well with a lot of people . . . but we do have a problem of an intensifying intolerance towards those said to be turning their backs on religious forms and rituals," the Prime Minister, Mr Mahathir Mohamad, told an annual party meeting.