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| Southeast Asia |
| Malaysia frees 4 KMM members |
| 2004-11-12 |
| And the Ramadan amnesty continues, it seems ... Malaysia has freed four suspected Islamic militants who allegedly underwent military training in Afghanistan and procured donations to buy weapons and explosives, security officials said on Friday. Authorities had arrested the men in 2001 and 2002 during a crackdown on members of regional terror network Jemaah Islamiyah and its affiliate, Kumpulan Militan Malaysia, or KMM. The four suspects were released Wednesday from the Kamunting prison camp in northern Perak state where they had been imprisoned for more than two years, a security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press. " The government feels these four have repented and can be released from Kamunting," the official said. " There are however some conditions restricting their movements in the districts where they live," the official said. Three of the suspects are alleged members of the KMM while the fourth, Abdul Razak Bakarudin, was believed to be a key official in the Malaysian cell of Jemaah Islamiyah, the official said. Abdul Razak was among 24 suspected Islamic militants who pleaded with the government on Monday to free them during Ramadan, the Muslim holy month. The security official declined to say whether the release of the four suspects was to coincide with Ramadan. All four allegedly underwent military training in Afghanistan before authorities uncovered the KMM and Jemaah Islamiyah threat in Malaysia, the official said. Security officials have said that Abdul Razak led a non-governmental organization, which collected donations from unsuspecting Malaysians and channeled the funds to Jemaah Islamiyah. Security officials have said that Jemaah Islamiyah received almost one million ringgit (US$263,000; euro 204,000) from Abdul Razak's organization, which was used to buy weapons and explosives. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |