Malaysia frees four men held as suspected militants

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 20 (Reuters) Malaysia has freed four men from a detention centre for suspected Islamic militants but they remain under close watch, a government spokesman said today.

Malaysia can detain people for consecutive two-year terms without trial under internal-security laws that are used mostly against suspected members of militant groups like Jemaah Islamiah (JI), which is fighting for an Islamic state in Southeast Asia.

''We can confirm that four have been released into restricted residency,'' the spokesman for the Internal Security ministry said, but he declined to give any further details.

Under Malaysia's Restricted Residence Act, the government can order people to remain within restricted zones around their homes and to report regularly to police.

The spokesman was commenting after a local human-rights group said it had discovered that the four men, held without trial for more than four years as suspected JI militants, had been released last week from the Kamunting centre in northwest Malaysia.

The Abolish ISA Movement, or GMI, which opposes detention without trial, said three of the men -- Shukry Omar Talib, Mohammed Kadar and Mohd Azmi Abdul Karim -- had been detained in early 2002 and the fourth, Shahime Ramli, in March 2003.

It welcomed their release, saying there was no proof of their involvement in JI activities but called for all detainees at Kamunting to be either freed or charged and tried in court.

''If they are really involved in these activities then bring them to court with the evidence,'' said Nalini Devi, spokeswoman for Abolish ISA Movement.

Reuters NY GC1654