Malaysia claims crack down on several LTTE members in last eight months

Kuala Lumpur, Apr 23(ANI): The Malaysian police have said that they have arrested and deported several key members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) between August last year and March.

Federal Special Operation Force Director, Fuzi Harun, said the LTTE members were initially detained under a special preventive measure before being deported.

"We did not want them here any longer than necessary. Our preventive action was to stop them from turning the country into their hub or base for global terrorist operations," New Straits Times quoted Harun, as saying.

"If they were allowed to turn our country into a terrorist breeding ground, it would only harm relationship with Sri Lanka and other countries," he added.

Earlier, Malaysian Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein had said that police had arrested 599 foreign nationals between 2008 and March this year for smuggling and trafficking in drugs.

He said the police busted several human smuggling and trafficking syndicates and rescued 1,567 victims in that period. (ANI)