Suspected terrorist Mohamad Iqbal A Rahman will appeal against the Immigration Department's decision to revoke his permanent resident (PR) status, said his wife Fatimah Zahrah Abdul Aziz today.

Fatimah, who finally met her husband at the Kuala Lumpur Immigration Department headquarters in Damansara, said Mohamad Iqbal will submit an appeal letter to the authorities soon.

"We hope the authorities will consider our appeal as there is no reason for the government to revoke his PR...he is innocent... and is neither involved nor has any knowledge about JI (Jemaah Islamiah) or KMM (Malaysian Mujahidin Group)," she told reporters.

The 46-year-old religious preacher was arrested by immigration authorities after being released from his two-year detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA) last Friday.

The Indonesian national, who has nine children aged between 19 and one, became a Malaysian PR in 1985. He was among the first batch of suspected KMM members detained in August 2001.

Yesterday, there was confusion over his whereabouts when Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said that Mohamad Iqbal had been deported.

However, an immigration official told malaysiakini later that he was still in custody here and awaiting deportation.

Notice given

Speaking about their 30-minute meeting today, Fatimah said she was glad and relieved to have met her husband due to the confusion.

Two of their children Wardatul Latifah 12 and Mohamad Sallehudin Al-Ayyubi, one, together with a family representative Badaruddin Ismail were also present.

"We spoke about the appeal process and of course the possibility of his deportation," she said when asked what was discussed.

According to her, Mohamad Iqbal said he was given a notice dated Aug 18 signed by Immigration Department director-general Mohd Jamal Kamdi informing him about the intention to revoke his PR status.

The document stated that he had seven days to appeal to the Home Ministry.

But before he could appeal, he was given another notice on Aug 21stating that the government had decided to proceed with the revocation. The second notice was also dated Aug 18 and signed by Mohd Jamil.

National threat

The document - a copy of which was made available to malaysiakini - stated that there were reasons to believe that Mohamad Iqbal was involved in activities prejudicial to national security and he had been classified as those prohibited from entering the country.

Apart from this, Fatimah said her husband had to sign a third document 'under duress' confirming that he was duly notified of the revocation and had understood its consequences.

Meanwhile, Badaruddin said the family had expressed their regret to the immigration officials that Mohamad Iqbal was forced to sign the third document.

"We believe that they should have at least allowed him the seven-day grace period to appeal before making a final decision.

"Since they denied him this earlier, the seven-day grace period should start from today," he added.

Badaruddin said the family will consult with their lawyers before making any further decision.

They were also told that Mohamad Iqbal will be held in Damansara until he is deported but the authorities did not specify when this will take place.

Fatimah, when asked, said that the immigration officials did not enquire about her PR status.

Children's future

Speaking about her husband's condition, she said Mohamad Iqbal appeared healthy but had lost a lot of weight.

"Of course I am happy to have finally met him...we will be happier if he's with us at home. But, he advised me to be patient and continue to take good care of the children," said the teary-eyed housewife.

She also expressed concern over their children's future if her husband was deported to Indonesia.

Six of them were studying at a religious school in Banting where the family has lived for several years while the eldest two were furthering their studies in Pakistan.

"Maybe to avoid disrupting their studies, I might leave them here. I can't see us being separated...but...we don't know how we'll overcome this.

"I leave everything to Allah and accept whatever fate has in store for us," said Fatimah.

It is believed that there are five other Indonesian nationals with Malaysian PR status being held under the ISA over terror-related charges. Their two-year detention will end next July.