KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 22 — The future of over 1,200 students at the Al-Madinah International University (Mediu) in Shah Alam, Selangor is hanging by a thread following the arrests of two of their peers for suspected terrorism.

But they may know their fate soon, as a high-level meeting between government officials and representatives of the private institution founded in 2006 is scheduled to take place later today.

“The meeting is to discuss Mediu's curriculum and accreditation issues,” a spokesman from the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) told Malay Mail Online when contacted yesterday.

The official declined to be named but said the meeting will be held at his ministry’s office in Putrajaya.

Mediu student leader Mohd Zulnazmi Zulkifli told Malay Mail Online that the meeting is scheduled for 5pm.

“I will be going with Mediu's management and the rector Prof Dr Mohammad Khalifa Al-Tamimi will also be there,” he said.

He added that two others from the student body will also be attending the meeting, and was unable to furnish more details.

“What I know is the one who called for the meeting is the MOHE and they didn’t tell who else is coming. Maybe those related agencies like the MQA,” he said, referring to the Malaysian Qualification Agency which handles accreditation and sets the standards for academic programmes in the country.

However, Malay Mail Online understands that other officials may be involved, including from an affiliate of the university, the Al-Madinah International Foundation, which receives and administers education funds among others.

The foundation general manager Datuk Bahrudin Abdul Rahman confirmed that he will be attending the meeting to discuss the university’s operations.

He also said the meeting would include representation from the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais).

A Mais official declined to state if there would be representation from his side, saying only that the meeting was highly confidential.

Mediu is estimated to have an enrolment of 1,280 students from 43 countries, its deputy chief executive for international relations, Datuk Dr Ab Ghani Mohamad told national news agency Bernama yesterday. He added that the majority are from Nigeria, Bangladesh and Indonesia.

The university is under close police scrutiny now after Bukit Aman’s counter-terrorism division nabbed two of its students a few weeks ago, believed to have links to global terror network, the Islamic State (IS), and were planning an attack against an international school here.

The two were foreigners who have since been deported to their home countries.

But police are still on high alert that there may be other potential IS recruits or sympathisers embedded in the campus.