Four suspected Sri Lankan Tamil Tiger rebels were arrested in the Malaysian capital and nearby areas, the country’s police chief said today.

Inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar said the four suspected members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, also known as Tamil Tigers, were arrested yesterday in raids in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.

Among the suspects were an alleged bomb expert and a man who attempted to assassinate former Sri Lankan president Chandrika Kumaratunga in 1999.

Khalid said police also seized during the raids several forged passports and official seals of the Malaysian Immigration Department and those of other countries.

Sri Lanka’s military defeated the Tamil insurgency in 2009 after nearly three decades of civil war.

In mid-May police deported to Sri Lanka three suspected Tamil Tiger rebels who were allegedly working to revive the insurgent group.

Yesterday’s arrest of the four suspects came as police announced the manhunt of five suspected Malaysian militants, including a lecturer at a prestigious university in Kuala Lumpur, who were allegedly recruiting Malaysians to fight in Syria and Iraq.

Last month, Syria’s representative to the United Nations revealed in a press conference that 15 Malaysian militants were among those killed in the strife-torn middle-eastern country.

- dpa