Sabah is negotiating with the Indonesian authorities to secure the release of seven Malaysians, including a Datuk, who are being detained in Indonesia for entering the country illegally.

Chief Minister Musa Aman said Sabah was seeking the cooperation of the Indonesian authorities to allow the Malaysians to return to Sabah as soon as possible.

"The problem is that they entered Indonesia without taking along their documents. We accept this as an offence and it is due to their carelessness, but I believe the matter can be settled soon," Bernama quoted him as saying in Kota Kinabalu today.

Asked why the seven entered Indonesia, Musa said it was just a normal visit.

"People in the two countries move in and out of each other's territory. It is a normal thing but they should have taken their documents so they could show them when required," he said.

Detained in Tarakan

Five of them - Melali Mali (a Datuk) 63, Harman Muhamad, 48, Akil Humarudin, 51, Musa Jaffar and Dahlan Tarsau, 33, all from Semporna in the east coast of Sabah, were detained on March 18 in Sungai Nyamuk on Pulau Sebatik, an island off Tawau which is shared by Malaysia and Indonesia.

The other two are Zaidi Harris, 29, from Johor, and Misbah binti Basuroh, 29, who were detained on March 11 in Tarakan in Indonesia's East Kalimantan province.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said yesterday he was leaving it to the state government to secure the release of the detained Malaysians.