Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said Thursday the 130 Muslims from Thailand's troubled south who are still sheltering in Malaysia will only be sent home on their own free will.

"They are still in the country. It is now left to them to make the choice if they want to go back to Thailand," he told reporters.

Syed Hamid said Malaysia had not set any timeframe as to how long the refugees, who are being held at a immigration detention centre in the northestern state of Terengganu, could remain in the country.

"This is a group of people who have come to Malaysia. We are just giving them a temporary place to stay.

"I think it is up to them to work with the (Thai) authorities until such time that the (Thai) authorities can convince them to come back," he said.

A group of 131 Thai Muslims fled across the border from their homes in southern Thailand on August 30, citing insecurity and fear of persecution by the Thai government.

Their flight triggered a diplomatic row between Thailand and mainly Muslim Malaysia, which insisted that the group should not be forced to return, particularly if their safety could not be assured.

Miscommunication

Syed Hamid described remarks by two Malaysian government officials Tuesday that they had been deported as a "miscommunication".

The minister also said that Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok were working closely to resolve the issue.

"We have worked well with Thailand and we will continue to to work with them," Syed Hamid said.

In December Malaysia extradited to Thailand one of the 131 Muslims who was wanted for his links to the Muslim insurgency in southern Thailand.

About 1,000 people have died in two years of unrest in the south blamed on the Muslim and separatist-inspired insurgency as well as organised crime and conflicts arising from local corruption.

On Tuesday, the Thai government extended the emergency rule that was first enacted in July in the south by another three months.