Malaysian opposition leader dies

Tears flowed when Dr Mahathir said he would go

The head of Malaysia's fundamentalist Islamic opposition party, Fadzil Noor, has died.

The 65-year-old died without regaining consciousness after a heart-bypass operation nearly two weeks ago, his Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) said.

Fadzil was seen as a moderate in his party

The party - which holds 27 of Malaysia's 193 federal parliament seats and controls two out of 13 states - had already appointed its deputy president Abdul Hadi Awang to stand in during Fadzil's illness.

The death adds to the uncertainty in Malaysian politics, coming a day after Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad declared then withdrew his resignation.

Dr Mahathir - who has now started an unscheduled 10-day holiday - wept as he announced his resignation during his closing address to the annual assembly of his United Malays National Organisation (Umno).

Delegates there demanded he stay on and less than an hour later he had apparently changed his mind.

Before going on his break, Dr Mahathir met other leaders from his party.

'Still needed'

All the sections of the party, such as the youth movement and women's section, will hold meetings to call on Dr Mahathir to continue his 21-year reign.

Umno's deputy leader, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, said the meetings must be held as soon as possible, according to a statement on the party's website.

"All Umno members want him to maintain and continue leading as his services are still much needed especially towards realising the party's and nation's struggle," he said.

Umno has been gaining in popularity as support fell away from the Islamic PAS in the wake of the 11 September attacks on the US by Muslim extremists.

PAS had made strong gains in the 1999 elections when Fadzil - party leader since 1989 - put together a coalition of opposition parties to challenge Dr Mahathir.