Waytha Nayagi Ponnusamy, another of the participants in the hunger strike which began on Sunday, said that Mr S. Jayathas, coordinator of rights group Hindraf which organised the protest, was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital.

'Mr Jayathas became weak after four days of hunger strike. He also missed two rounds of dialysis treatment. He is a kidney patient,' she said.

Ms Waytha is the sister of P. Uthayakumar, one of five ethnic Indian leaders of Hindraf who are being held under the controversial Internal Security Act (ISA) which allows for indefinite detention without trial.

The five, one of whom is a state lawmaker, were arrested after enraging the government last November by mounting a mass rally alleging discrimination against Malaysia's minority ethnic Indians.

Ms Waytha said the group would on Thursday end their hunger strike - during which they are consuming only water - which is being staged at a small Hindu temple north of Kuala Lumpur.

'But we will continue our struggle in other forms until the ISA is abolished and all detainees are freed,' she said.

Ethnic Indians make up less than eight percent of the population of 27 million, which is dominated by Muslim Malays.

The ISA, a relic of the British colonial era when it was used to fight a communist insurgency, allows for renewable two-year periods of detention without trial.

Malaysia's government says it is a vital tool to fight terrorism, but rights groups say the law has been improperly used to silence government critics, and that detainees are mentally and physically tortured.

Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar said last week that since he took over the portfolio in March, the number of ISA detainees - mostly alleged Islamic militants - had been reduced from 70 to 46. -- AFP