MALAYSIAN NEWS FIRE TEAR GAS AT PROTESTERS– Taiwan NewsMalaysian police fired tear gas and a water cannon Sunday to disperse thousands of people at an opposition-backed rally against the federal government's involvement in a dispute over drinking water.
A federal police official said 48 people were arrested and were being investigated for illegal assembly. He said police used force because the protesters, numbering about 4,000, had refused to disperse.
The official requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Police permission is required for gatherings of five or more people in Malaysia, and authorities often crack down on protests.
Witnesses said the tear gas sent people running into side streets near the big National Mosque in downtown Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's largest city, before regrouping.
The standoff lasted about four hours before the protesters left the area.
The protesters, including several opposition lawmakers, gathered to speak out against alleged federal government interference in water management in central Selangor state, lawmaker Xavier Jayakumar said.
Xavier is a member of the opposition People's Alliance, which runs the state.
The dispute is over the federal government's insistence that Selangor quickly build a water treatment plant. It cites a national water resources study which projects that Selangor, neighboring Kuala Lumpur and the capital, Putrajaya, will face water shortages by the end of 2014.
Selangor Chief Minister Khalid Ibrahim says his government does not oppose a water treatment plant but does not want to build it in haste since the state's own studies show it has enough water to meet demand until 2019.
Instead, Khalid wants to give priority to restructuring the state's water services industry, which includes both government and private operations. Negotiations have been deadlocked since last year.
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