A magistrate's court has freed two US citizens detained for 10 days for allegedly distributing Christian religious pamphlets to Muslims, police and the US embassy said today.

The two men were arrested on April 25 and a local court ordered them to be held for 14 days to assist in investigations, but they were released Wednesday, May 4, a police official told AFP .

It is an offence in predominantly-Islamic Malaysia to try to convert Muslims away from their faith.

Police named the two men as Ricky Rupert, in his 30s, and Zachary Harris, in his 20s. Rupert is from Washington state and Harris from Colorado.

A spokesman for the US embassy confirmed the release, saying: "All charges were dismissed, and they were freed."

Police and embassy officials said they did not know whether the men were still in Malaysia or had left the country.

The official Bernama news agency had reported that they were arrested for distributing pamphlets with religious content at Malaysia's new administrative capital Putrajaya.