He also accused the Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia newspaper of twisting facts to spark off hatred of the Malays for Hindus.

The issue at hand, he said, was the use of the Internal Security Act, which Anwar described as a cruel law.

"We as Malays, as Muslims, if we show cruelty to Malays or to Hindus, such a Malay is not qualified to rule the country. You can take that down Utusan Malaysia," he told reporters today.

Anwar had been asked to comment on the move by representatives of the Hindu Rights Action Front (Hindraf) in presenting a memorandum calling for the release of those detained under the ISA to the Prime Minister at his Hari Raya open house last week.

"The issue is not any protest by Hindraf. The issue is the cruel ISA. Those detained under this cruel law must be released," said Anwar.

Asked what he thought about speculation that Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi would not defend his Umno presidency, he said he did not believe a government or an Umno led by Datuk Seri Najib Razak would be any better.

He said he did not believe that BN would be able to garner more support or credibility under Najib.

"We are talking about a system tainted by corruption. It is important that we continue to call for reform and change," he said.