Malaysia detains Hambali's wife

Malaysia detains Hambali's wife

MALAYSIA: The wife of top terror suspect Hambali has since this month been detained in Malaysia for two years to assist police in their investigation of her husband, a top police official said on Thursday.

Noralwizah Lee Abdullah, a Malaysian national, was handed to police in Kuala Lumpur after she was arrested with her husband in Thailand in August, the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"Her detention began on Oct. 10 for two years," he said. "She can help us with information about Hambali. We know where ever Hambali goes, she follows."

She was being held under Malaysia's draconian Internal Security Act (ISA), which allows for indefinite renewal of standard detention orders.

The official did not say where she was being held, but it was believed to be the Kemunting detention center in the northern Perak state, where all the other ISA detainees are imprisoned.

Dozens of alleged members of Hambali's Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) regional terror network are already jailed in Malaysia under the ISA. -- AFP