Malaysia deports suspected Indonesian militant<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati and Syaiful Amin, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta\/Yogyakarta<\/p>\n
A National Police spokesman said that his office was aware of the
\ndeportation of an Indonesian militant from Malaysia, but had yet
\nto make any moves against him, pending an investigation into his
\npossible involvement in a series of terror attacks in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
"The Foreign Affairs Ministry has yet to inform us about it.
\nWe are looking into his possible involvement in the 2000
\nChristmas bombings, the Bali bombings or other acts of terror,"
\nSr. Comr. Zainuri Lubis said on Monday.<\/p>\n
Zainuri was commenting on the deportation of Mohamad Iqbal
\nAbdul Rahman, alias Abu Jibril, after he was released from a
\nMalaysian prison. Iqbal was detained for two years under the
\nInternal Security Act for his involvement in the al-Qaeda-linked
\nJamaah Islamiyah (JI) terror group.<\/p>\n
As soon as Iqbal arrives in the country, Zainuri said, the
\nMinistry of Justice and Human Rights, which supervises the
\nimmigration office, will report it to the police.<\/p>\n
"We'll check first whether he was involved in crimes here or
\nnot. We won't be hasty," Zainuri said.<\/p>\n
Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said in
\nKuala Lumpur that his authorities had deported Iqbal, an
\nIndonesian with permanent residency in Malaysia, after releasing
\nhim from prison, AFP reported.<\/p>\n
Badawi, who is also the home minister, confirmed that Iqbal
\nhad been sent to Indonesia. However, he declined to say when
\nIqbal was deported and if Malaysian authorities had conducted an
\ninvestigation into his involvement with JI.<\/p>\n
"He has been sent back to Indonesia," Abdullah said. "They did
\nnot have to ask for him to be extradited."<\/p>\n
Iqbal, 46, was released on Friday after his two-year detention
\norder under the ISA expired. He was handed over to immigration
\nofficials immediately.<\/p>\n
It was not clear if Iqbal was released due to a lack of
\nevidence.<\/p>\n
Since early 2001, Malaysia has detained more than 90 suspected
\nmilitants, many of them alleged members of JI, which is blamed
\nfor a string of bombings in the region including the Bali blasts
\nin October last year that killed 202 people and the JW Marriot
\nhotel bombing in Jakarta earlier this month.<\/p>\n
The release of Iqbal was first reported by his brother Irfan
\nAwwas, a top leader of the Indonesian Mujahiddin Council (MMI),
\nlast week.<\/p>\n
Irfan said his brother did not commit any crime in Malaysia,
\nwhere he worked as a cleric. The Malaysian government awarded him
\na license to conduct religious activities.<\/p>\n
In his sermons, Iqbal spoke prominently about jihad and
\nmartyrdom, according to Irfan.<\/p>\n
Iqbal, a graduate of the Yogyakarta Agriculture Institute,
\nleft for Malaysia in 1985, along with Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, the
\nalleged leader of JI who is now on trial for treason for his
\npossible role in ordering terror attacks to destabilize the
\ngovernment.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/malaysia-deports-suspected-indonesian-militant-1447893297",
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