KL extends prison terms of JI suspects

KL extends prison terms of JI suspects

MALAYSIA: The Malaysian government has extended by two years the imprisonment without trial of 10 suspected Islamic militants, including two Indonesians, a human rights group said on Sunday.

The 10 men were initially arrested in mid-2002 under the Internal Security Act, which allows for people who are deemed security threats to be jailed indefinitely under detention orders that must be renewed by the government every two years.

The detainees, who are allegedly members of the al-Qaeda- linked regional militant group Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), were informed by police that they would not be released after their original detention order expired on Saturday, said Malaysian human rights group Suaram.

A government security spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur, that the 10 suspects were "still believed to be threats to the security of Malaysia." --DPA