Alleged JI leader denies terror links

Alleged JI leader denies terror links

MALAYSIA: In his first public comments since being arrested more than two years ago, an Indonesian jailed in Malaysia as a leader of the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) militant group has denied the accusation and demanded he be tried or released.

Mohammad Iqbal Abdul Rahman, who was detained without trial on allegations he is a radical preacher aligned with the al-Qaeda- linked Southeast Asian Islamic group, complained in a statement released on Monday of ill treatment at the hands of police. He also accused the Malaysian government of rights abuses during his 27 months of captivity.

In rare comments from one of more than 70 Islamic militant suspects jailed in Malaysia under a tough security law, Iqbal described being arrested by a dozen Special Branch police at prayers in 2001, subjected to three weeks of interrogation at police headquarters and being denied access to a doctor and proper food and medication while in detention.

"All those injustices have been meted out to me in the name of terrorism by the Malaysian government," Iqbal said. "I am neither a terrorist nor a sponsor. Islamic doctrines totally and unequivocally condemn any act of terrorism." -- AP