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Malaysia extends Sufaat's detention
Malaysia has extended by two years the detention of a Malaysian suspected of aiding al Qaeda hijackers involved in the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, his lawyer said on Friday.Yazid Sufaat, a 42-year-old former army captain, is accused of having provided lodging in the Malaysian capital to two of the hijackers, Khalid al-Midhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi, who were aboard the airliner that hit the Pentagon in 2001. Malaysia has held Yazid under its strict Internal Security Act, which allows detention without trial, since 2002. "The detention has been extended for another 2 years from Jan. 31," lawyer Edmund Bon told Reuters. "No reasons were given." Police say Yazid, who holds a degree in biochemistry from a U.S. university, was also the local contact for Zacarias Moussaoui, who is being tried in the U.S. for conspiracy in the attacks blamed on Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network. FBI agents had interviewed Yazid in his cell in 2002. Malaysia is due to decide by Feb. 22 the fate of 36 other suspected militants being held together with Yazid. "We will know on Feb. 23 if their detentions are being extended as well," Bon said. Posted by: Dan Darling 2006-02-18 |
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