Barisan Alternatif allies PAS and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (Keadilan) today rebuked the government for detaining 13 Malaysian students under the Internal Security Act for suspected involvement in terrorism.

"The arrests, made on a whim, show that the new leadership (of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) is no different from the last despite claims of change," said PAS in a statement.

The students, aged between 16 and 25, were studying in Karachi, Pakistan. They were detained by authorities there for two months before being deported.

They were arrested on Monday by Malaysian police upon arrival in Kuala Lumpur to facilitate investigations into their alleged ties with the regional terror network Jemaah Islamiah (JI).

PAS said the fact they were released by Pakistani authorities, allowed to return on a commercial flight and had not been tried in open court, suggested the lack of proof over any involvement with terrorism.

"The new prime minister seemed to have debased his own legacy with this unprincipled decision, which follows in the footsteps of the US. We call for the students' unconditional release," it stressed.

'Charge or release'

Meanwhile, Keadilan president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said the students should be charged or released unconditionally.

"We understand that the Malaysian police had been sent to Pakistan to investigate the alleged terrorist links of the students," party president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and her deputy Dr Syed Husin Ali said in a joint statement.

"If this is the case, the Malaysian government should have already possessed sufficient information (to prosecute under criminal law)."

In September, Deputy Home Minister Chor Chee Heung claimed that initial investigations by the police here revealed that the 13 were being groomed as future JI leaders.