A Chinese national has been detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for allegedly forging passports and travel documents for the use of foreigners, Deputy Internal Security Minister Noh Omar said today.

Loo Pei Tu, 39, originally from Fujian province in China and who married a Malaysian in 1997, was sent yesterday to the Kamunting Detention Centre in Perak to serve a two-year detention order.

He was arrested two months ago under Section 73 (1) of the ISA and has since been interrogated by police, but the arrest was not made public earlier.

Noh said he signed the order under the security law, which allows for detention without trial. The order can be extended indefinitely.

The deputy minister said police had been investigating Loo and his syndicate since March 2002 for forging over 200 passports and social visit passes for nationals from Vietnam, Indonesia and China, to enable them to extend their stay in Malaysia.

"This contravenes Malaysian laws and is prejudicial to national security," he told a press conference at the Parliament lobby.

Asked about any action against other members of the syndicate, Noh said police have so far detained only the Chinese national. He could not say whether Loo holds permanent resident status.

To another question, he replied that immigration department officers were not involved in the matter.

Noh said the government could not charge Loo in open court due to difficulty in getting witnesses, as most of those involved are foreigners who would have returned to their country of origin.

Fresh order

Noh also confirmed the two-year extension of the detention order against 10 people currently being held in Kamunting for alleged links to regional terrorist group Jemaah Islamiah. They include two Indonesians.

He also said an order of restricted residence imposed on former ISA detainee Chomel Mohamad has been extended for two years. Chomel's husband, Yazid Sufaat, is being held in Kamunting under the ISA.

Noh said he had signed all 11 orders after considering the reports submitted by the ISA review board.

In a related development, Salahuddin Ayub (PAS-Kubang Kerian) condemned the extension of the detention orders.

At a press conference, he described this as the government's "violence and cruelty" and likened it to allegations of abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US soldiers in Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison.