50 Malaysians 'linked to al-Qaeda'

The Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad, says the authorities have identified about 50 Malaysian citizens with links to the al-Qaeda network.

He said some of them had been arrested, and had admitted to receiving training in Afghanistan.

Dr Mahathir told a news conference it was not yet known whether the suspects had formed an al-Qaeda cell in Malaysia.

The Malaysian police last week announced they had detained 13 members of a local Islamic militant group.

Reports say the police are now investigating whether some of those arrested had held a meeting in Malaysia with two of the hijackers who flew a plane into the Pentagon in Washington.

About 24 men accused of belonging to a different cell of the same Malaysian militant group, Kumpulan Militan Malaysia, were arrested last year.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service