AP;HHR;

AP;HHR;
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Aglance-Malaysia-terrorist
Suspected JI 'leader' to stay in KL
JP/11/J04

Suspected JI 'leader' to stay in KL

MALAYSIA: A suspected leader of the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI)
extremist network jailed in Malaysia won an initial victory on
Tuesday in a court battle against being deported to his native
Indonesia.

Mohamad Iqbal Abdul Rahman was granted the right to appeal a
government order withdrawing his permanent residency status in
Malaysia.

If his appeal is successful, it takes him closer to his
ultimate aim of being able to live freely in Malaysia.

Malaysian authorities allege Iqbal was involved in militant
activities that threatened national security and held him without
trial for two years.

But when his detention order came up for renewal in August,
Malaysian officials instead transferred him to Immigration
Department custody, canceled his permanent residency status and
said he would be deported.

Malaysian authorities did not give a reason for not renewing
the detention order against Iqbal, though the possibility of a
bureaucratic mistake has been raised. -- AP