KUALA LUMPUR, 13 September 2006 — Malaysia yesterday lashed out at the United States for the covert detention of two Malaysian Al-Qaeda suspects, and said Washington was breaking international laws in its anti-terrorism efforts.
Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar criticized the US for withholding information on the two suspects, saying Malaysia had not been informed of their transfer from secret CIA detention to the Guantanamo Bay prison camp.
“We were not given any information whether they are terrorists or not. Being citizens of our country, we should be informed,” Syed Hamid was quoted as saying by the Malaysian state Bernama news agency from Cuba.
He also said Malaysia’s embassy in the US had tried to get information on them for the past two years, but had failed.
US President George W Bush last week announced 14 suspects had been transferred from covert custody under the Central Intelligence Agency to Guantanamo Bay to be tried by military commissions. The group included Malaysians Zubair and Mohammed Nazir Bin Lep, otherwise known as Lillie.
Bush’s statement was the first confirmation of secret overseas CIA detentions.
Syed Hamid accused the US of hypocrisy in treatment of the terrorism suspects and reiterated Malaysia’s calls for a fair trial for the pair. “I think it’s ironical when you try to introduce democracy but there are certain aspects of democracy such as human rights that are not being adopted as the best practices of democracy,” he said.
