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