Malaysian students to be deported soon, says report
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 26: Thirteen Malaysian students detained in Pakistan are due to be sent home after authorities complete investigations into their alleged involvement in terrorist organisations, a report said on Friday.
“We do not have plans to charge them and we are processing their deportation papers,” said Javeed Iqbal Shima, Director-General of Pakistan’s Interior Ministry’s Crisis Management Centre.
“We hope to hand them over to the Malaysian authorities soon,” he was quoted as telling the local Star daily in a telephone interview.
On Thursday, the Malaysian government revealed that the students, all aged in their 20s, are believed to be leaders-in-training of regional terror network, Jemaah Islamiyah (JI).
The detainees were picked up over the weekend from several Islamic seminaries in Karachi.
Mr Iqbal said authorities were still in the midst of questioning the students, adding that members of the Malaysian consul in Pakistan would be allowed to visit detainees, who are currently being held in an undisclosed centre in Karachi.
“Our law enforcement officers are still interrogating them,” he said.
Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said on Tuesday that the students were arrested following interrogations carried out on top terror suspect Hambali, who is currently being held by the United States at an undisclosed location.
Hambali, who was arrested in Thailand on Aug 11, is said to be the operations chief of JI, which is accused of carrying out the Bali bomb blasts in October last year and the recent J. W. Marriott Hotel bombing in Jakarta.—dpa
