Eleven out of 13 Malaysian students who were arrested last month by Pakistani security forces on suspicion of involvement in militant activities have been released following completion of investigations by Pakistani authorities.

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf told a press conference yesterday at the Organisation of Islamic Conference summit in Putrajaya that 11 students have been released but they remained in Pakistan as the authorities are still working on the paperwork for their return to Malaysia.

He said the arrests were carried out based on information gathered from the brother of Hambali, Gun Rustam Gunawan, who was also studying in Karachi.

"We got the brother of a terrorist from Indonesia, that is, Hambali. In the course of our investigations, he named a number of people.

"In any investigation, you would get hold of them (the named persons), round them up. We did nothing wrong by investigating them. Were they involved or did he just happen to know them?" Musharraf said.

However, the president could not elaborate if Pakistani authorities have uncovered any evidence of wrongdoing by the students as he did not have the details of the investigations at hand.

He added that all investigations were carried out with full cooperation from Malaysian authorities.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Foreign Minister Kurshid Ahmed Kasori told reporters that the students could return to Malaysia within a month.

Asked if they could continue their studies in Karachi, he replied, "Why not? There are many Malaysian students in Pakistan."

Inflammatory teachings

Earlier, President Musharraf also clarified that the students were not enrolled in registered universities in Pakistan as claimed by their family members, but in madrasahs.

"They were not in the universities. They were in religious institutions. There is no Abu Bakar Islamic University in Karachi. These are madrasahs," he said.

All 13 arrested students, aged between 16 and 21, were undergraduates at one of two Karachi institutions - the Abu Bakar Islamic University and the University of Islamic Studies.

Questioned if the arrests indicated infiltration of extremist elements in Pakistani religious institutions, Musharraf acknowledged inflammatory teachings in some Pakistan-based madrasahs but said the authorities are taking steps to address the problem.

"Unfortunately, suspicions go around because some of our madrasah are preaching intolerance and sectarian or religious differences. This is what is happening. We are now looking into this.

"There is no campaign against students. We would love to have any number of students from Malaysia and other parts of the world," he added.