The police arrested a Malaysian opposition lawmaker and two journalists on Friday under a law that allows the authorities to detain them indefinitely without trial, provoking fears of a government crackdown on dissent. Opposition parties denounced the arrests, for which the police gave no reason. Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi faces renewed pressure from his own governing party to resign. Tensions have also risen because of a threat by the opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, to topple the government by Tuesday. Mr. Anwar was briefly jailed in July on suspicion of sodomy, an accusation he said was a political fabrication.

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