Suspected terrorist Mohd Iqbal Abdul Rahman was still being held at the Kuala Lumpur Immigration Department headquarters in Damansara, said an official today.

However, this contradicted Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's statement earlier that the 46-year-old religious preacher has already been deported.

At press time, Kuala Lumpur Immigration Department public relations officer Ahmad Shukri told malaysiakini that Mohd Iqbal was still in custody here and awaiting deportation.

"He is still here (in Damansara depot) until the process to deport him is finalised," he said but could not confirm when the deportation will be carried out.

Mohd Iqbal was arrested by immigration officials immediately after he was released from his two-year Internal Security Act (ISA) detention last Friday.

The father of nine who holds a Malaysian permanent resident status was alleged to be a member of the Malaysian Mujahiddin Group (KMM).

PR status

His lawyer Latheefa Koya was also in the dark over his whereabouts due to the conflicting information but she hoped that he was still here as his wife had yet to meet him.

However, she said his wife Fatimah Zahrah Abdul Aziz seemed sure that her husband was still being held at the immigration department headquarters.

Latheefa also urged the authorities to comply with the immigration rules to ensure that Mohd Iqbal's rights were not violated.

"I don't see how they can deport him without clarifying his PR status. They can only deport him after his PR is revoked. Why hasn't the family been told of the revocation?

"But even they have revoked it, like I said earlier... he has the right to appeal against the decision," she said when contacted.

She added that the Abolish ISA Movement (AIM) and several other rights groups will ask the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) to look into this matter.

Family's fate

Meanwhile, Mohd Iqbal's wife said she waited for four hours at the immigration headquarters today but was still not given permission to meet her husband.

"There was nothing I can do or say to persuade the officials to allow me to meet my husband.

"So I wrote him short notes and passed some food which I brought from home through the immigration officials," said Fathimah who is also a Malaysian PR.

According to her, she was also advised not to return to the headquarters tomorrow and was instead told to wait for immigration officials to contact her once the deportation process was finalised.

She hoped that the matter would be resolved speedily so that she could decide on whether the family should follow Mohd Iqbal to Indonesia.

"They told me that we can go back with him if we want to. They plan to deport him from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and said that we can take a flight home on the same day there.

"But I don't know yet...I will wait for the advice of a lawyer from Indonesia who had volunteered to come here to help me," said Fathimah, who is also a Malaysian PR.

Mohd Iqbal had been residing in Malaysia since 1985 and was given PR status in 1987. He was among the first batch of KMM suspects arrested under the ISA in 2001 and subsequently slapped with a two-year detention order.