Indonesian terror suspect fights deportation ordered by Malaysian

Indonesian terror suspect fights deportation ordered by Malaysian government

Jasbant Singh Associated Press Kuala Lumpur

A suspected leader of the Jamaah Islamiyah militant group who has been freed from prison in Malaysia is fighting government plans to deport him to Indonesia, his family and lawyer said on Tuesday.

After detaining him without trial on security grounds for two years, the Malaysian government ordered the release of Mohamad Iqbal Abdul Rahman last month and revoked his permanent residency status to enable him to be deported back to his home country, Indonesia.

Confusion has surrounded the release. The government has given no reason why he was freed -- though the possibility of a bureaucratic error has been raised -- or what was delaying the deportation after his residency papers were revoked Aug. 18.

Indonesia has no charges outstanding against Iqbal, but has said he will be questioned on any links with various bombings there if he returns to the country.

Malaysian immigration authorities confirmed on Thursday that Iqbal was still being held at a facility in Kuala Lumpur awaiting deportation, but declined to say if the expulsion was facing any holdup.

Iqbal's lawyer, Latifah Koya, said her client was seeking a High Court order against the government's decision to revoke his permanent residence status. No hearing date has been fixed.

"My client feels that the government's decision to revoke his permanent residence status is unfair as he was not given a chance to explain his side of the story," she told The Associated Press.

If Iqbal wins the decision, the deportation order would become invalid and allow him to remain in Malaysia, Latifah said.

Malaysian officials say Iqbal, 46, is an Islamic cleric who came to Malaysia in the mid-1980s along with other Indonesians, including alleged Jamaah Islamiyah leaders Abu Bakar Ba'asyir and Hambali, or Riduan Isamuddin, and began teaching a radical version of the faith.

Ba'asyir, a radical Muslim preacher, was convicted of treason by a Jakarta court this month and sentenced to four years imprisonment.

Hambali, who was arrested in Thailand last month and is in U.S. custody, allegedly masterminded last year's Bali nightclub blasts, which killed 202 people, and the attack on the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta last month, which killed 12.

Hambali allegedly became more prominent in Jamaah Islamiyah after Iqbal was arrested in June 2001 in Malaysia during a sweep of alleged members of the Malaysian Militant Group, or KMM.

The KMM has been determined to be a component of Jamaah Islamiyah, which seeks to establish a pan-Islamic state in Southeast Asia and has strong links to al-Qaeda.

Iqbal's release gave hope to other detainees that they might be freed after serving their initial two-year arrest orders under the Internal Security Act, which provides for indefinite detention without trial.

But on Tuesday, the government extended the imprisonment of nine other suspected militants for another two years.

Iqbal's wife, Fatimah Zahrah Abdul Aziz, denied her husband had links with terror groups or had carried out any militant activities. She is still in Malaysia.

"He is a religious preacher, that's all," she told The Associated Press. "We have lived in this country for so many years and I hope we can continue to stay here."