The government should charge the four members of the Jemaah Islamiah group, whom the police claimed to be suicide bombers, in court in order to restore public confidence that Malaysia is free from terrorist threat.

PAS Youth leader Mahfuz Omar said the failure on the part of the government to do so would only "confirm" that Malaysia is indeed a terrorist haven.

"What's actually happening now is contrary to the government's recent denial of the latest travel advisory by the US Department of State which named Malaysia as a country of high terrorist-risk, following last month's Bali bombings," he told malaysiakini when contacted today.

"Let the allegations against them be proven in court, instead of detaining them without trial under the Internal Security Act (ISA). If they are proven innocent, it proves that Malaysia is still safe for tourists," he said.

The four suspects, who were arrested in Johor last week, were said to be planning attacks on key installations in Singapore.

Mahfuz, who is the member of Parliament for Pokok Sena, also attributed the latest arrests to US' pressure on Malaysia to speed up the establishment of the anti-terrorist center here.

Validating use of ISA

Meanwhile, Keadilan secretary-general Sahri Bahri said the latest arrests have confirmed the allegation that Malaysia is a terrorist haven.

"While government politicians are denying that Malaysia is a high terrorist risk, and also protesting against the latest travel advisory issued by western countries, the police, on the other hand, is taking action contrary to that," he said.

He said the police assumption that those arrests are the would-be suicide bombers is an attempt to validate the use of ISA against them.

He also called on the government to be more transparent by issuing a white paper in Parliament on the current security situation facing the country.

Worst terrorist alert

Meanwhile, DAP chairperson Lim Kit Siang said that the arrest of Malaysia's first 'suicide bomber' squad has confirmed the worst "terrorist alert" warning issued recently by Western countries like the US and Australia.

He said it had also nullified protests by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and other top cabinet ministers over the warning by the US Department of State that attacks similar to last month's Bali bombings could take place in other Southeast Asian nations including Malaysia.

He also called on Inspector-General of Police Norian Mai to seek the cooperation of the public, and in particular political parties and non-governmental organisations by giving a full and proper briefing of the threat of terrorism as well as addressing their legitimate security concerns and fears about the police responses to date.

Meanwhile, US ambassador to Malaysia Mary T Huhtala had denied that her country has a hidden agenda against the Malaysian government.

She had said that it is her government's responsibility to alert its citizen on the possible dangers facing them in other countries.