updated version Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today that the Internal Security Act (ISA) will be invoked against anyone, even students, if they posed a threat to national security.

"Students are not exempted from the law. If they participate in any activities (prejudicial to) national security, then the relevant law will be used," warned the premier.

Mahathir was commenting on the arrest of Institut Kemahiran Mara student Khairul Anuar Ahmad Zainuddin under Section 73 (1) of the ISA. The 24-year-old student activist was arrested in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

However, the premier denied that the arrest was part of a campaign to silence student dissidents.

"The students can voice their views but if they are involved in illegal activities or demonstrate and obstruct other people from going about their daily business, then it is a different matter entirely," he said.

Mahathir was speaking to reporters after officiating the Malaysian Institute of Islamic Understanding (IKIM) radio station, IKIM.FM, at its headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

Khairul, a second-year electrical engineering student, was detained at the Dang Wangi police station yesterday while accompanying six students who were called to give their statements on an anti-ISA demonstration in front of the National Mosque on June 8.

Police later confirmed that he had been arrested under the ISA, which allows detention without trial.

Not drastic

Meanwhile, Inspector-General of Police Norian Mai today declined to comment on whether the arrest was linked to the fire which destroyed the historic Dewan Tunku Canselor in Universiti Malaya last Friday.

"It is still being investigated. We can't ascertain if it was arson or not," he told a press conference after attending a function at the senior police officers' training college in Kuala Lumpur.

Norian said that yesterday's arrest was not a "drastic" move, stressing that he has no qualms about deploying the Act to pre-empt people from threatening the country's security, regardless of their age or background.

"We act based on information about their activities. Whether they are foreigners, locals or students is not our primary concern. If they are upsetting the public order, we arrest them," he said.

"Even if it happens to be a housewife or an old man, we will still arrest them," said the police chief.

Norian denied that any militant trend had been detected among varsity students. He said such inclination is more prevalent among overseas graduates, particularly those from the Middle East.

Militant action

Recently, the prime minister had remarked that certain student movements have increasingly adopted militant strategies to pursue their anti-government agenda.

The government has not held any students in the Kamunting detention camp over the past two decades since the student uprising in 1974 which fought for the cause of peasant farmers who were then suffering from famine in Kedah.

In 1998, the Act was invoked against two student leaders at the height of the political crisis which erupted after the sacking of Anwar Ibrahim as deputy prime minister.

However, the pair were released before the 60-day detention period expired.