M'sia held 50 under ISA

MALAYSIA last week detained 50 people under laws which allow for them to be held without trial, an advocacy group said on Wednesday.

The detentions come at a time of raised religious and ethnic tensions over the use of the word 'Allah' by Christians to denote their God in Malay language publications.

The government had warned that the so-called Internal Security Act (ISA) could be deployed to keep tensions from boiling over.

'Fifty people were nabbbed and then 38 were released. There are twelve still detained,' Nalini Elumalai, a spokewoman for the Abolish ISA movement, told Reuters by telephone.

Eleven churches, a Catholic school, a Sikh temple, three mosques and two Muslim prayer rooms so far have been hit by arson or vandalism in recent weeks amid a row over the use of the word 'Allah'.

Analysts have said the attacks, although not an immediate risk, are raising worries among some foreign investors at a time when Prime Minister Najib Razak has pledged to lure more foreign investment.