Zahid: One of two Malaysian detainees in Guantanamo may be transferred home

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19: JOHOR- Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi(pic) working visit to Sultan Iskandar Building (BSI) CIQ Complex, Johor Bahru at 1345 (0545 GMT) KUALA LUMPUR- Release of September 2016 Consumer Price Index at 1200 (0400 GMT) KUALA LUMPUR- Science Technology and Innovation Deputy Minister Abu Bakar Mohamad Diah and Deputy Education Minister P.Kamalanathan attend the closing of National ICT Security Discourse: CyberSAFE Challenge Trophy at Taming Sari 3, Hotel Royale Chulan Kuala Lumpur at 1300 (0500 GMT) KUALA LUMPUR- Official Opening Of 7th Muslim World Biz Exhibition and Conference and the Jewels of Muslim World Award, Exhibition Hall 3, Putra World Trade Centre at 1430 (0630 GMT) MALACCA- Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai attends Melaka Gateway Port (Pulau Panjang) foundation stone laying ceremony at Pulau Melaka at 1430 (0630 GMT)

NEW YORK: Mohamad Bashir Lap, one of the two Malaysians being held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp may be relocated to Malaysia but he will have to continue the deradicalisation process in prison, said Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (pic).

The Deputy Prime Minister said this was conveyed to him during a meeting on Wednesday with Lee Wolowsky, the United States Special Envoy for Guantanamo Closure.

"This possibility is in tandem with our efforts to bring home the Malaysian detainees in Guantanamo Bay," Ahmad Zahid, who is also Home Minister, told Malaysian journalists on Thursday.

Ahmad Zahid had led the Malaysian delegation to the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly here.

Mohamad Bashir and Mohd Farik Amin are the two Malaysians being held at Guantanamo Bay detention camp since 2006 for their involvement with the Jemaah Islamiyah militant group in early 2000.

They are also alleged to have been involved in the bombing at the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta in 2003 and were detained in Bangkok that year.

Ahmad Zahid said the US Periodic Review Board, by consensus, determined that "continued law of war detention of the detainees remains necessary to protect against a continuing significant threat to the security of the United States".

"However, the United States has informed of the possibility of one of them (Mohamad Bashir) being sent back to Malaysia, but he has to continue to undergo the deradicalisation process," he said.

As such, Ahmad Zahid said, a high-level committee under his chairmanship would be established immediately pertaining to the matter.

The committee would comprise representatives from the Home Ministry, Foreign Ministry, Defence Ministry, National Security Council, Attorney-General's Chambers, Royal Malaysia Police, Prisons Department and Immigration Department, he added.

Ahmad Zahid said he had extended an invitation to Wolowsky to visit Malaysia to explain to the committee the requirements and conditions on the transfer of the Guantanamo detainee to Malaysia. – Bernama