NUSA DUA, Indonesia - Malaysia said today it was reviewing its policy of granting visa-free entry to some countries after people-smugglers took advantage of the policy to route their Australia-bound human cargo through the country.

"We have started to look at it but we have not come up with any final decision," Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar told reporters on the sidelines of an international conference on combating people-smuggling.

"We will review countries that we think have created a problem for us ... we have got some countries where we have got visa problems, we will review that because of the illegals coming in, we will review it as a whole."

Syed Hamid declined to name the countries. He stressed that the visa-free policy applied to western as well as Muslim countries in the Middle East.

Based on reciprocity accords, citizens of some countries can enter Malaysia without a visa for two weeks to one month, he said.

Transit point

Indonesian and Australian officials have repeatedly identified Malaysia as a transit point for Australia-bound Middle Eastern asylum-seekers.

They cross the Malacca Strait by small boat to Indonesia, where they are placed on larger boats for frequently perilous voyages to Australia.

The ability of many Middle Eastern nationals to enter Malaysia without a visa makes it easy for people-smugglers to operate through there, officials have said.

Syed Hamid said Malaysian authorities were often unaware that some nationals used the country as a transit point until informed by other countries.

"Sometimes we have information from Australia, from some other countries. When we have that information then we'll take action, we'll stop them from coming into Malaysia and we'll send them back."

The foreign minister said the policy review was aimed at keeping out "undesirable elements, people who may have criminal records, who may want to use Malaysia as a transit point.

"We don't want our country to be used (in a way) that creates problems for other people," he added. (AFP)