KUALA LUMPUR - FOUR alleged members of Islamic extremist group Jemaah Islamiyah released last week in Malaysia after nearly five years in detention no longer pose a security threat, a junior minister said on Sunday.

Mohamad Johari Baharum, a junior minister in the internal security ministry, told AFP that the four men arrested in Dec 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 Malaysia's much criticised Internal Security Act (ISA), which allows indefinite detention without trial, after the government launched a crackdown on Jemaah Islamiyah.

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.

Mohamad Johari said other JI suspects held in the Kamunting detention centre in northern Perak state 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.

Malaysian 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.

Malaysia has detained at least 85 people under the ISA, including alleged JI militants, according to another rights group, Voice of the Malaysian People. -- AFP

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