A Malaysian court yesterday jailed for five years a Pakistani man who was part of a group which kidnapped and robbed a South African diplomat two years ago.

Arshad Mehmood Mohammed Shafi, 40, had pleaded guilty to theft, robbery and the abduction of Deputy High Commissioner Nicky Scholtz.

The judge, Nursinah Adzmi, handed him three sentences totalling 14 years for the crimes, ordering the terms to run concurrently from the date of his arrest in June 2004, reported the state Bernama news agency.

Scholtz was forced into a car as he walked along a Kuala Lumpur street in May 2004. He was robbed and held prisoner for a week.

A Malaysian court in June 2004 charged Arshad Mehmood, two other Pakistanis and a Singaporean with the crime.

Pakistani Nisar Ahmad Khan, 36, was sentenced to seven years in jail in July last year.

Abducted outside hotel

The other Pakistani, Shahid Mehmood Muhamad Bashir Ahmad, 30, and Singaporean, Narajan Singh, 69 would be tried in September, said Bernama.

The diplomat, who had arrived in Malaysia only weeks earlier, was abducted outside a hotel. The men went to his room and stole his cheque book, passport, cash and mobile phone.

The South African High Commission at the time said Scholtz was the victim of a crime which appeared to be aimed at a solitary foreign tourist.

Malaysia's Deputy Tourism Minister Donald Lim last week said the government would improve security at tourism "hotspots" after complaints from tourists about being robbed.

"We are serious in giving security to the tourists. At the moment we know there are areas that have security problem," he was quoted as saying by Bernama.