Malaysian police fire water cannons at protesters

Malaysian police have fired water cannons at ethnic Malays who turned unruly at a rally to support PMi Najib Razak, following calls for him to step down over a financial scandal.

Hundreds of protesters pelted riot police with plastic bottles and tried to push their way into Chinatown, which was barricaded – prompting riot police to fire chemical-laced water to disperse the crowd.

Thousands of other people were rallying peacefully at a central field near Parliament.

The rally, which included Cabinet members and leaders from Mr Najib’s ruling Malay party, was held to counter a protest in late August by tens of thousands of Malaysians to demand his removal and political reforms.

Today’s protesters accused ethnic Chinese of driving last month’s demonstration.