Malaysia defers Iqbal's deportation

Malaysia defers Iqbal's deportation

MALAYSIA: Malaysian immigration authorities have deferred the planned deportation early on Sunday of an Indonesian preacher suspected of being a senior member of the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) terror network, his wife said.

Mohamad Iqbal Abdul Rahman, 46, an Indonesian with permanent resident status in Malaysia, was arrested in June 2001 under the Internal Security Act (ISA) allowing indefinite detention without trial for alleged militant links.

He was released in August but immigration officers revoked his permanent resident status and immediately arrested him pending deportation to Indonesia.

The alleged militant has appealed to the High Court against a declaration that he is an undesirable person and a prohibited immigrant.

His wife Fatimah Zahrah Abdul Aziz said she had been informed by the immigration department to prepare to join her husband, currently held at a detention center in northeast Terengganu state, at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Sunday to return to Jakarta, but he did not turn up. -- AFP