Washington: The US has underscored that the rights of Malaysians to hold peaceful protests, after Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi's government swiftly suppressed mass rallies and threatened to use a draconian law to detain protestors indefinitely without trial.

"We believe citizens of any country should be allowed to peacefully assemble and express their views," a US State Department official said when commenting on the crackdown of unprecedented street protests in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur this month.

One called for electoral reform which drew some 30,000 people, and another by at least 8,000 ethnic Indians last Sunday was aimed at highlighting racial discrimination.

The rallies were the biggest in a decade and took place despite bans ordered by police, who broke up the gatherings with tear gas, water cannons and baton charges.

The US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, did not go beyond his succinct statement, which was the first reaction by Washington on the rare outpouring of anti-government dissent in Malaysia.

The protests led to a veiled threat by Abdullah on Tuesday to use the controversial Internal Security Act (ISA) that allows for detention without trial to stem the dissent.

Rights groups, who have campaigned to have the ISA abolished, cautioned the prime minister against using such laws. "It is a huge mistake for Prime Minister Abdullah to even consider using this unjust law to crack down on peaceful demonstrators," said T Kumar, Amnesty International Asia-Pacific advocacy director in Washington. "We strongly urge him not to use it."

Source : PTI