KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 6 — Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi confirmed today that Indonesian militant Fadli Sadama who escaped from the Tanjung Gusta prison in Medan during a riot at the penitentiary last July, has been arrested.

“The report we obtained from the intelligence agency showed the likelihood of a threat.

“So the arrest is a preventive measure to avoid the possibility. We don’t want to be labelled as terrorist ‘rearers’ just because of one or two incidents,” he said after launching two books titled, “Je T’aime” and “The Glory of God” authored by Datin Seri Panglima Shuryani Datuk Shuaib here today.

On Tuesday, a foreign news agency quoted Indonesian national police spokesman Agus Rianto as saying that Fadli had been detained in Malaysia and  handed to the Indonesian authorities.

Agence France Presse (AFP) reported that Fadli was among 200 convicts who broke out of Tanjung Gusta prison which was torched by inmates during a riot, resulting in the death of five people.

Fadli was also reported to have links with a separatist group, the Pattani United Liberation Organisation in Thailand and militant Islamist terrorist organization, Jemaah Islamiyah. — Bernama