It was never the intention of Otai Reformasi to "do police work" during the red shirt rally on Sept 16, the NGO's core group leader Ronnie Liu said.

"It was never Otai's intention to take over the duty and responsibility of the police force or taking laws into our own hands," he said in a statement today.

Previously, Otai Reformasi and Pro-Rakyat had said they would be sending 2,500 volunteers to the streets on Sept 16 to monitor the rally.

This had prompted the inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar ( photo ) to caution them against interfering in the rally as it could aggravate the situation.

"Don't do police work," had been the IGP's warning to the two NGOs.

Liu responded to the warning, saying that their volunteers will merely keep an eye on the situation on the day.

"They will act like what our friends in the media do, that is, ready with cameras and video recorders to capture any incidents and report to the police as and when necessary," he explained.

He is also glad that the rally now has changed their venue and hopes that the police will be able to contain the rally to Padang Merbok, the new venue.

Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's promise to disallow any marching during the rally and Khalid's assurance that he will send enough police officers to facilitate the rally was also welcome statements to Otai Reformasi, Liu added.

"We hope both the home minister and IGP who has given their assurance would honour their words," he said.

Otai Reformasi, Pro-Rakyat and 18 other NGOs had earlier made police reports against the rally and asked both the prime minister and the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to stop the rally .

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Otai Reformasi: No intention of doing 'police work' at rally