(AFP) The police today said they were monitoring students who had received military training in Afghanistan after Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad linked them to a local militant group.

A police spokesman said the government had photographs and information revealing the students' participation in military training.

Details such as how many were involved and whether they had returned to Malaysia could not be revealed as the students were under investigation, he said.

"If we reveal where they are now, the students who are still there will most definitely not want to return," he told AFP .

Police chief Norian Mai said at the weekend the students had learnt to make and handle weapons, bombs and landmines, and had undergone "biased lectures" on jihad, or holy war.

"These are the people we are focusing on now as they may be greatly influenced and pose a threat to our security when they come home."

Taliban links

Mahathir said at the weekend that Malaysia was "uneasy with the Talibans as well as Osama bin Laden" as there were links between the Afghan rulers and home-grown militants known as the Malaysian Mujahedin Group (KMM).

He said members of the Malaysian group were trained in Afghanistan and Pakistan and idolised Osama, the prime suspect behind the September 11 attacks in the US which left around 5,700 people dead or missing.

He said the group rejected democracy which it viewed as unIslamic.

"They are bent on installing a government by force and doing away with democracy after that, and would then rule the country according to what they deemed as the Islamic way," Mahathir said.

Nine members of the KMM - said to be waging an Islamic "holy war" and blamed for a spate of crimes - were last month sent to a detention camp for two years without trial.

Among them was accused ringleader Nik Adli Nik Aziz, the son of the spiritual leader of the opposition PAS, which wants to set up a hardline Islamic state here.

Religious freedom

Mahathir said that being an Islamic country did not mean forcing Islamic laws on non-Muslims.

"Although we declare Islam as our official religion, non-Muslims are free to practice their religions. This is in line with the teachings of Islam."

He said the world acknowledged Malaysia as being not only Islamic, but a model Islamic country.