Malaysia says arrests could be linked to Singapore al-Qaida plot

Malaysian police have arrested two more suspected members of an al-Qaida-linked militant group.

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad says he believes the pair have ties with a group of alleged terrorist plotters in Singapore.

The latest arrests take to 15 the number of alleged members of the group detained since December 9.

The Singapore government alleges the group was linked with al-Qaida and was planning to attack Western embassies, US Navy ships and American companies in the city-state, which borders Malaysia to the south.

It said the group had stored four tons of ammonium nitrate, an explosive chemical, in Malaysia.

A senior police official said one of the latest suspects was arrested in the southern state of Melaka on Wednesday for activities which "threatened national security." He declined to elaborate or give more details of the suspect.

Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said a second suspect had been arrested "a few days ago," the national news agency, Bernama, reported. He gave no details.

Malaysian police announced last week they had arrested 13 people between Dec. 9 and Jan. 3 and accused them of being members of an Islamic militant group called the Kumpulan Mujahiddin Malaysia, or KMM.

Mahathir has said some of the suspects admitted to being trained in Afghanistan by the hardline Taliban militia and al-Qaida

Police are investigating whether some of those arrested had contact with two hijackers involved in the Sept. 11 attacks and with Zacarias Moussaoui, who is charged with conspiring to cause the deaths of thousands of people in the attacks.