Malaysia imprisons Al-Arqam members

Malaysia imprisons Al-Arqam members

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysia said yesterday four former followers of a banned Islamic sect, Al-Arqam, had been imprisoned for trying to revive the movement.

The four will be held under the powerful Internal Security Act (ISA) for at least two years, Bernama news agency reported.

Al-Arqam was founded in 1968 by leader Ashaari Muhammad and crushed by the authorities in 1994 when Malaysia's Moslem clergy ruled its teachings to be in conflict with Islam.

The four people imprisoned were identified as Hashim Ahmad, 42; Haji Ahmad Salim Omar, 49; Hasyim Jaafar, 40; and Pahrol Mohd Goui, 36, a director of a publishing firm.

After the 1994 ban, Ashaari and seven leaders were detained under the ISA and in October that year Ashaari confessed on national television to straying from Islamic teachings and misleading his followers.