Several alleged Islamic militants held under a draconian security law complained to a junior cabinet minister of past torture by police and other abuses.

But Deputy Internal Security Minister Noh Omar defended the police, saying they were only employing " tactics " to get information and their actions could not be compared to abuses meted out to Iraqi prisoners by US troops

He also said the detainees could lodge complaints with the state-backed National Human Rights Commission or the Royal Commission of Police.

"We will investigate but there is no evidence right now. Some said they were abused but others were not. I cannot question how the police investigate," he told reporters.

"But I want to stress that detainees at the Kamunting camp are not tortured like the prisoners in Iraq. Kamunting cannot be equated to (Iraq's) Abu Ghraib prison."

The complaints were made during Noh's two-hour visit to the Kamunting detention centre in Perak for prisoners held under the Internal Security Act (ISA), which allows indefinite detention without trial.

For the first time since the camp was opened late 1973, the media was allowed access and follow Noh as he talked with detainees from the militant groups Jemaah Islamiah (JI) and Kumpulan Mujahidin Malaysia (KMM) to probe allegations that they had been subjected to Iraq-style abuses at the camp.

Political mileage

Most of the detainees told the deputy minister that the abuses did not take place at Kamunting but rather under police custody during the initial 60-day interrogation before they were transferred to the camp.

"I was stripped naked and they kicked my chest. They grabbed my neck and slapped me repeatedly. They asked me many questions that are unrelated to my arrest such as how I make love to my wife," said an alleged JI member from Sabah.

He was also accused of being involved in a bomb plot in Australia during the Sydney Olympics in 2000 but said he was merely working there at the time.

Another alleged JI member, Al-bakri Mohamad, said there were no physical torture in Kamunting except for the use of "derogatory words, vulgarities and orders to prisoners to stand for long hours" by prison wardens.

KMM detainee, Zainon Ismail, accused Noh of using the visit to "seek political mileage and to clean-up the image of Prime Minister (Abdullah Ahmad Badawi)" over the cruelty of the ISA.

"Don't use us as political tools and visit us as if we are animals in the zoo," he said.

Most of the detainees said they were in the dark as to why their two-year detention orders had been extended despite having fully cooperated.

"This is not rehabilitation but torture," said a detainee who cried during the talks.

Mental torture

Another KMM detainee said some prisoners had been subjected to severe mental torture and that they went crazy and had to be sent to a psychiatric hospital.

There are now 104 ISA detainees in Kamunting, including 23 foreigners, prison officials said.

Among these are 75 alleged JI members, including 13 Indonesians, three Singaporeans and two Filipinos.

There are also 17 alleged KMM members and others held for charges of counterfeiting, passport forgery.

Sri Lankan businessman BSA Tahir, who was detained Friday for his alleged links to the international nuclear black market scandal, is also being held there. - AFP