UMNO Youth will not stop its members from participating in the rally organised by PAS this Saturday in support of the proposed amendments to the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 (Act 355).

UMNO Youth vice-chief Khairul Azwan Harun said it was the wing's decision and stand on the rally, to be held at Padang Merbok here.

"We cannot stop anyone from participating in the rally. This is our stand and our decision," he said after attending the UMNO Youth meeting at Menara Dato' Onn, Putra World Trade Centre here last night.

Khairul Azwan said he personally would attend the rally if he had the opportunity to do so.

About 200,000 people are expected to attend the Act 355 rally with the theme 'Syariah Diperkasa Rakyat Sejahtera'.

In another development, Khairul Azwan said UMNO Youth welcomed Cabinet decision yesterday that it would set up a special task force to conduct a probe into the losses suffered by Bank Negara due to foreign exchange trading in the 1990s.

"This is a good start. But I hope there will be no speculation before the task force finished its probe," he said. -- Bernama