Malaysia's ruling party moves to stop race row
Updated
Malaysia's main political party has suspended a party official at the centre of a bitter racial row.
Ahmad Ismail is an UMNO district leader in the state of Penang.
He made statements critical of the local Chinese claiming they want to dominate Malaysia's politics.
The United Malays National Organisation's supreme council has now suspended him for three years.
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi says the Council's opinion is that Ahmad Ismail actions caused serious tensions.
The case highlights fragile race-relations in multi-racial Malaysia.
It exposes cracks in the 14-party Barisan Nasional coalition which is dominated by UMNO, but relies on Chinese and Indian parties.
