The government has lashed out at the United States for the covert detention of two Malaysian al-Qaeda suspects, and said Washington was breaking international laws in its anti-terrorism efforts.

Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar criticised the US for withholding information on the two suspects, saying Malaysia had not been informed of their transfer from secret CIA detention to the Guantanamo Bay prison camp.

"We were not given any information whether they are terrorists or not. Being citizens of our country, we should be informed," Syed Hamid was quoted as saying by the state Bernama news agency from Cuba.

He also said Malaysia's embassy in the US had tried to get information on them for the past two years, but had failed.

US President George W Bush last week announced 14 suspects had been transferred from covert custody under the Central Intelligence Agency to Guantanamo Bay to be tried by military commissions.

The group included Malaysians Mohd Farik Amin, or Zubair, and Mohammed Nazir Lep, otherwise known as Lillie.

Accuses US of hypocrisy

Bush's statement was the first confirmation of secret overseas CIA detentions.

Syed Hamid accused the US of hypocrisy in treatment of the terrorism suspects and reiterated Malaysia's calls for a fair trial for the pair.

"I think it's ironical when you try to introduce democracy but there are certain aspects of democracy such as human rights that are not being adopted as the best practices of democracy," he said.

He also said Washington was ignoring international laws to combat terrorism, adding that US tactics had raised fears in smaller countries their soverignty would be breached, Bernama reported.

"This sort of act is not good for the sustainability of the international system. Small countries will fear for their future, whether they can act independently," he said.

PKR slams gov't

Meanwhile, opposition party PKR has reminded the government that there were more than 100 alleged terrorists detained without trial in Malaysia since July 2001.

Similarly to those in Guantanamo, these detainees deserved their "fundamental right to a free and fair trial", said PKR leader Wan Azizah Wan Ismail in a statement released today.

She stressed that there are sufficient laws in this country to take them to court.

Wan Azizah also slammed the government for keeping the detention of Mohd Farik and Mohammad Nazir a secret.

"What should also concern us is the fact that the government had known of the two-year secret detention of Mohd Farik Amin and Mohammad Nazir Lep in the US, yet the government had declined to disclose this matter to the public, or the Parliament, until this was reported by international news agencies."

Wan Azizah added that "terrorism cannot be fought and won behind secret cells".

"The public should be allowed to examine and be informed by the facts of these cases, by way of full disclosure in a court of law, and not rely on one-sided accounts by both the US and Malaysian governments."