The government is studying the possibility of reducing the period a person may be held for interrogation under the controversial Internal Security Act (ISA).

The work of a committee set up to review the Internal Security Acttwo years ago is nearing completion and will be presented to the cabinet soon, a minister told the Malay-language Buletin Malaysia published on the National Security Division website.

Among the suggestions made by the committee is that a detainee may only be held for questioning for a maximum period of 30 days.

"Some in the review committee think that the present period of 60 days should be reviewed and assessed, whether it is suitable or whether it should be shortened to 30 days or to a more efficient and effective time-frame," de facto Law Minister Rais Yatim said.

Currently, a person can be held and questioned under the ISA for up to 60 days, after which he may be released or issued an ISA detention order.

The ISA allows for indefinite renewal of two-year detention orders without trial.

Rais however stressed that the ISA would not be repealed as "it has been needed since the communist insurgency. The ISA must be seen as an instrument to help Malaysians continue to live in peace."

The draconian ISA was originally designed to combat a communist rebellion half a century ago, and critics say it has been used more recently to crush political dissent. The government says it is a necessary tool against terrorism. - AFP