(AFP) The government has linked members of an Islamic militant group allegedly trying to topple Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to an opposition party, reports said today.

"A large number of Malaysian Mujahedin Group (KMM) members who were involved in helping the mujahedin in Pakistan are supporters of an oppositon party and the government is aware of their involvement in KMM activites," Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was quoted by the Berita Harian daily as saying.

Abdullah told parliament that the leader of the group was Nik Adli Nik Aziz, son of the opposition PAS spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat.

Nik Adli and eight others, including several PAS members, were last month ordered detained without trial for two years in the Kamunting detention camp in Perak.

Six more alleged members KMM were arrested this week under the Internal Security Act (ISA), which allows for detention without trial, and police said they were searching for five others.

Abdullah said the militant group was established on October 12, 1995 by Zainon Ismail, a former mujahedin fighter in Afghanistan, before the leadership was handed to Nik Adli in 1999.

Ties with other radical groups

Abdullah, who is also the Home Affairs minister, said the government had arrested a total 19 people, including an Indonesian national, believed to be involved in the militant group, which has been blamed for a spate of crimes including bombing a church and a temple.

Of the number, 15 were held under the ISA, three were charged in court and another died of injuries suffered during a botched bank robbery.

He said the KMM was known to have ties with radical Islamic groups in Indonesia, and had sent members to Ambon, which has seen devastating clashes between Muslims and Christians since January 1999.