A group of suspected terrorists linked to the 21 alleged extremists arrested in Singapore is still at large in Malaysia, said the police today.

"There is definitely still a group moving around, and we have to monitor them closely before taking action," a police spokesperson told AFP .

He was commenting on a statement yesterday by the Singapore government that the 21 suspects arrested last month were planning to cripple military and other crucial targets as part of a plan to overthrow the Malaysian government and create an Islamic state.

It was to be the first step towards their ultimate goal of creating an Islamic state covering Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, the southern Philippines island of Mindanao, and Brunei, the Singapore government said.

Most of those arrested were said to be from the Jemaah Islamiah group, which allegedly has links to Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network..

For their part, the Malaysian authorities have detained 62 alleged Islamic extremists in the past year, saying they are members of the Malaysian Mujahidin Group (KMM), which has links to JI.

Positive move

The police spokesperson said the Singapore authorities had informed the Malaysian government of the developments leading to the arrests of the 21 suspects and had also revealed more information about the group's movements in Malaysia.

"For sure we will know about things like this, through our mutual agreement of sharing of information pertaining to terrorist movements, especially if Malaysia was the target of their attacks," he said.

The officer, who spoke on the traditional condition of anonymity, hailed Singapore's success in nabbing the suspects as a "positive move towards wiping out these terrorists".

"The threat of terrorists still remains, but if we keep up this close networking, we can surely cripple their progress," he said.

A senior official with the Home Ministry said police would use the information obtained as a result of the interrogation of the suspects to help investigations into terrorist groups here.

"We have always had good cooperation between the Singapore government and our government in this area, so they will give us details of their findings, and it is up to the police to take action from there," he said.

Create animosity

The Singapore government said the aim of the group was "to create a situation in Malaysia and Singapore conducive to overthrowing the Malaysian government and making Malaysia an Islamic state.

"Attacks on key Singapore installations would be portrayed as acts of aggression by the Malaysian government, thereby generating animosity and distrust between Malaysia and Singapore."

The government said the regional JI leader, an Indonesian known as Hambali, "aimed to stir up ethnic strife by playing up 'Chinese Singapore' threatening Malays/Muslims in Malaysia," the report said.

The targets in Singapore included vital water supply pipelines from Malaysia, Changi airport, Jurong Island where Singapore's oil refineries and petrochemical plants are based, and the ministry of defence headquarters.

Other targets included a US vessel at the Changi naval base, and a pub which they believed to be frequented by US military personnel, the government said.