KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 28 (AFP) - Malaysia's opposition alliance will next Tuesday launch a three-month boycott of a private television station and two top newspapers it accuses of slander, an official said Friday.

"We are boycotting TV3, News Straits Times and Utusan Malaysia," said Raja Petra Kamarudin, spokesman for the National Justice Party headed by the wife of jailed ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim.

Raja Petra told AFP Malaysians would be urged not to watch Sistem Telivisyen Malaysia Bhd.'s (TV3) main evening news.

"TV3 played a major role in slandering the opposition. It warned the people of riots if the opposition wins the elections (last November 29)," he said.

He said the call to boycott the English daily News Straits Times and the Malay-language daily Utusan Malaysia was for the same reason.

"We will not hesitate to take similar action against others," he added.Raja Petra also said TV3 along with the two newspapers would not be allowed to cover any opposition functions after February 1.

"We have been flooded with calls to organise a boycott. We are responding to the rakyat (people)," he said.

He urged Malaysians dissatisfied with the media to sign a special 100-feet-long (33-metre-long) strip of cloth on the day of the boycott launch.

The opposition alliance groups the National Justice Party, the Democratic Action Party, the Malaysian People's Party and the Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS).

The mainstream media is overwhelmingly pro-government. Opposition news is carried, but usually briefly.

PAS has applied to the government for a licence for a daily newspaper to be called Purnama. Authorities have curbed the sale of its party newspaper Harakah, saying it is licensed only for sale to party members.

Asked about plans for Purnama, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said in London Thursday: "We are not against newspapers. We are against the spreading of lies through newspapers.

"If you read Harakah, you'll find that they haven't been telling the truth."

Asked if a permit would be given for the proposed daily newspaper, he said: "What is the guarantee that they will not lie?"