Four alleged members of Islamic extremist group Jemaah Islamiah released last week after nearly five years in detention no longer pose a security threat, a junior minister said today.

Mohd Johari Baharum, a junior minister in the internal security ministry, told AFP that the four men arrested in December 2002 had successfully completed "rehabilitation programmes."

"They are no longer considered a threat to national security. But they will still be monitored by the police," he said.

The men were arrested under the much criticised Internal Security Act (ISA), which allows indefinite detention without trial, after the government launched a crackdown on Jemaah Islamiah.

The militant group has been blamed for a series of deadly attacks that have killed hundreds of people in Southeast Asia, including the 2002 Bali bombings.

At least seven alleged JI suspects had been freed here in the past two months.

Undergoing rehabilitation

Mohamad Johari said other JI suspects held in the Kamunting detention centre in Kamunting, Perak would be released once they complete their rehabilitation programmes.

"We counsel them against the use of violence. We do not torture or use force on them. If we are satisfied, we will also free other JI members," he said.

Rights group GMI identified the freed man as Bakkery Mahhamud, Mohamad Zamri Sukirman, Sabri Jaafar and Zamzuri Sukirman.

GMI has called for the abolition of the ISA. It said a persistent public campaign had led to the release of the four men, but criticised the selective release of people held under the act.

The government has detained at least 85 people under the ISA, including alleged JI militants, according to another rights group, Suaram