Pakistan Arrests 15 Southeast Asians

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani security officials arrested 15 Southeast Asian students in the port city of Karachi on Saturday for involvement in activities seen as prejudicial to the interests of Pakistan, state-run television said.



Two of the suspects were Indonesian and 13 Malaysian, it said.


"They were arrested for involvement in activities which are against the interests of Pakistan," the report said. It did not elaborate but the term is usually used for terrorism-related activities.


"The relevant governments have been informed," the television report said.


Pakistan Television said the Malaysian and the Indonesian governments had withdrawn permission for the students to stay on in Pakistan.


"After completing necessary investigations and legal formalities, they will be handed over to the concerned countries," it said.


Karachi, a sprawling city of 14 million people, has been the scene of several bloody attacks on Western and Christian targets in recent years.


Islamic militants angered by Pakistan's support for the U.S.-led war on terror have been blamed for the attacks.


Pakistan has arrested several senior members of the al Qaeda group, blamed for the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, as well as several hundred more junior members and supporters.


Militants from Southeast Asia, including some from Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, trained at al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan (news - web sites) before the U.S.-led invasion of that country in late 2001.