The Indonesian Embassy has retracted its approval to allow the deportation of an ex-Internal Security Act detainee Mohamad Iqbal A Rahman due to confusion over his 'real' identity.

When contacted, an official said the decision to cancel the deportation documents issued on Dec 15 was made after discovering that the religious teacher was issued two passports under different names.

"Last Saturday, we discovered that Mohamad Iqbal has successfully applied from the embassy two different passports under different names, one of which was Abu Jibril.

"Based on the latest development, we had to initiate a thorough investigation to ascertain his real identity," said the official who declined to be named.

He added that the embassy contacted the Malaysian immigration department to defer Mohamad Iqbal's deportation until the investigations are completed.

"I don't know how long the investigation will take but I have to admit that it will take quite some time as we need to contact the authorities in Indonesia on this matter," he said.

Mohamad Iqbal , 46, was arrested in June 2001 under the ISA over terrorism charges. He was released this August but the immigration department revoked his permanent resident status and immediately arrested him pending deportation to Indonesia.

He has since appealed against the declaration that he is an undesirable person and a prohibited immigrant.

Last Thursday, his wife Fatimah Zahrah Abdul Aziz told malaysiakini that she had requested the immigration department to deport him as soon as possible as the family could not cope with his continued incarceration.

However, she said her husband will continue the legal tussle to have his PR status reinstated.

Baseless accusation

Meanwhile, Fatimah today denied the embassy's allegations against her husband claiming that he had never assumed different identities when applying for passports.

"What is the need for him to do so? Of course they can easily make accusations against him but where is the proof," said the mother of nine.

Yesterday, she had waited in vain at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport after being told to join her husband there in order to return to Indonesia.

"The whole scenario is puzzling and suspicious... the new allegations come at the last minute. The last time I spoke with the embassy representatives, they said nothing of this sort.

"Instead I was assured that the embassy had no qualms in allowing my husband to be deported to Indonesia,"she said when contacted.

One of Mohamad Iqbal's lawyer Amer Hamzah Arshad said that letters have been sent to the immigration department and the embassy seeking an explanation on the matter.

Last month, the Kuala Lumpur High Court granted Mohamad Iqbal leave to seek declarations to challenge the revocation. But the court has yet to set a hearing date for the matter.

He was transferred to the Ajil detention centre in Terengganu after he complained in a letter, which was made available to malaysiakini, about poor detention conditions at the Kuala Lumpur Immigration Department headquarters.