(AFP) - Police have detained without trial another seven people believed to be linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said yesterday.

Abdullah said the seven were suspected members of the Malaysian Mujahedin Group (KMM), which is accused of waging a "holy war" here after undergoing military training at camps in Afghanistan.

They were being held under the Internal Security Act (ISA), which provides for indefinite detention without trial, he told reporters at Indera Kayangan in Perlis.

"There are reasons why they are detained," Abdullah said without giving further details.

Abdullah, who is also Home Minister in charge of police, was commenting on a local report that seven more militants were detained, believed to be members of a second cell in the KMM.

Utusan Malaysia quoted sources as saying that the seven were arrested in Kuala Lumpur and two other states earlier this week and more arrests were likely.

Topple government

The new wave of arrests came less than a month after the detention of 15 alleged militants with suspected links to Zacarias Moussaoui, a Frenchman on trial in the United States for his alleged role in the September 11 attacks.

The 15, also held under the ISA, were said to be members of a separate cell within the KMM. Police last year detained 25 alleged KMM members, also under the ISA.

Asked about new cells operating independently within the KMM, Abdullah said: "Whether they are members of the second, third, fourth or fifth cells, they are all KMM members".

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has said that KMM members, accused of trying to overthrow the government, were trained in Afghanistan by the Taliban and the al-Qaeda terrorist group.

Malaysia, which has a Muslim majority, considers itself a moderate Islamic state.