KUALA LUMPUR - IN THE first such case of its kind here, the men behind two of Malaysia's most popular blogs are being sued for defamation.

The New Straits Times (NST) is seeking an injunction against former employee Ahirudin Atan, who started a popular blog after leaving the newspaper, and Mr Jeff Ooi, a pioneering local blogger.

The suit also seeks unspecified damages from the pair.

It points out instances of alleged defamation in more than 40 of Mr Ooi's articles and at least 10 of Mr Ahirudin's from over the past year.

Plaintiffs named in the suit against the two men, other than the newspaper, include its deputy chairman Datuk Kalimullah Hassan, Group Editor-in-Chief Datuk Hishamuddin Aun and former Group Editor Brendan Pereira.

Datuk Kalimullah and Mr Pereira were key figures in the NST leadership since 2004.

Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and some Umno figures have criticised them for publishing articles which they claimed were unfair to him. The editors have never directly responded to those allegations.

Last November, the NST management announced that Mr Pereira's contract would expire at the end of 2006. He is now between jobs.

Mr Ooi writes on the Screenshots blog - as Internet web logs are known for short - while Mr Ahirudin's website is known as Rocky's Bru.

Both blogs have a strong following and have been identified in recent times for their support of Tun Mahathir in his protracted tiff with Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi.

'None of us have passed this way before, so I shall have to tread carefully. I'll need you to tread carefully, too, when you leave your comments,' Mr Ahirudin said in a posting on his blog yesterday.

Mr Ooi, in his own posting, said his lawyers were now 'taking care of it'.

The two blogs are among scores which have mushroomed on the Net in response to what some people here perceive as a pro-government media.

Blogs have become an important political battleground in recent times, as a host of pro-Mahathir websites have been set up in the past year.

New Straits Times Press chief executive officer Datuk Syed Faisal Albar could not be reached for comment on the lawsuit.

But a senior official of the newspaper confirmed to The Straits Times that legal action was being taken against the bloggers.

The Straits Times also understands that the newspaper's management was concerned about the great number of articles on the two blogs which it claimed contained serious allegations against the NST.

Mr Ooi's Screenshots is among Malaysia's first blogs, and focuses on mainly political topics.

Mr Ahirudin's blog also highlights local politics and issues related to the newspaper industry.

Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang, who also publishes his own blog, said the defamation suit would have a 'chilling effect' on the freedom of bloggers.

He urged Malaysians concerned with human rights to rally behind the two bloggers.

leslie.lau@excite.com