Four alleged Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) linked militants, who have been detained under a tough security law for the past two years, have been ordered to serve another two years because they remained a security threat, a top Malaysian official said today.

"They are still a threat to national security. They will be detained for two more years," a senior government official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The four, alleged members of the Militant Group of Malaysia, with links to the JI extremist group, were initially detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in 2001 and their earlier two-year detention expired on Friday.

The ISA allows for indefinite detention without trial.

Security officials say JI is linked to al-Qaeda and carried out a string of bloody attacks, including the Bali bombings in October last year that killed 202 people and a Jakarta hotel blast in August, which killed 12 people.

The four detainees - Muhamad Zulkifli, Khairuddin Saad, Muhamad Zulkepli and Mat Salleh Said - are being held at the Kemunting detention centre in the northern Perak state.

Under criticism

Rights groups in an immediate response criticised the government's decision to detain them under the ISA.

Yap Swee Seng, activist with Voice of the Malaysian People (Suaram) and secretary of the Abolish ISA Movement said the four should instead by charged in court if the government has the evidence.

"We are disappointed with the extension order. It is a stain on the new administration of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. We thought we would see some improvements in human rights under Abdullah.

"But Abdullah seems to hold on to the ISA," he told AFP.

Malaysia last month freed 19 security detainees, most of whom were held for treason, on the eve of the Muslim festival of Hari Raya Aidil Fitri.

Fifteen of the ISA detainees belonged to a Muslim sect accused of planning a "holy war" to topple the government, while the other four were Islamic students arrested after being deported from Pakistan recently. - AFP