M'sian 'detained' in Egypt for alleged terrorist link

By Rahmah Ghazali
VIDEO INSIDE KLANG: It was supposed to be a family homecoming from Egypt, but little did she expect that she would be returning home with her two sons but without the company of her husband.
In an exlusive interview with FMT here, the 33-year-old housewife, who only wanted to be known as Hidayah, said that it has been more than two weeks since she was in contact with her husband, Muhamad Zulkifli Mohamad Zakaria or affectionately known as “Ustaz Ibrahim” (green baju Melayu) , 41, after they were seperated at the airport.
Holding back her tears, Hidayah recalled that her husband was detained by the Egyptian immigration soon after they received their boarding passes to Malaysia at Cairo International Airport on July 13.
She said her family spent about one month in Egypt as Zulkifli was to sit for Syariah examinations in Zamalek University for his Master's degree.
According to her, she and their two sons, both four and two, had no problem with their documentation and they were let through to the boarding room to wait for their husband.
"But we waited for him for quite some time, and we almost missed the flight. A lady, maybe an officer, approached me, saying that my husband could not board the plane because of some immigration problem.
"She then told me that I should board on the plane without my husband. I was hesitant initially, but soon after that my husband sent me a text message saying that we should proceed without him. He also told me he didn't know why he was detained," said Hidayah.
And that was the last text message he received from her husband, she said.
A cover-up by Malaysian authorities?
It has now been more than a week since she has lost contact with her husband. She has sought help from the Malaysian Foreign Ministry, the Malaysian Embassy and the police but to no avail.
Hidayah now suspects that it must have something to do with Zulkifli's background as a former Internal Security Act (ISA) detainee for allegedly having links with Kumpulan Militan Malaysia (KMM) back in 2001.
However, she said this could not be the case as her husband was released years later without any conditions.
"And what puzzles me the most is, if he was a terrorist, why was he let go on the first day we arrived in Egypt? Besides, when we went to Indonesia three years ago, there was no problem at all," said Hidayah.
She also revealed that she received "wrong information" of her husband's whereabouts from the Malaysian Foreign Ministry and police headquarters in Bukit Aman.
"What surprised me the most is that the ambassador did not even know about my husband's status," she said.
"Some of the Special Branch officers told me that my husband would be on the next flight on Kuwait Airways the next day... When we called Malaysian Foreign Ministry, we were told the same thing.
"But when we checked the passengers' list, his name was not on it," she said.
However, with the help of Malaysian students in Egypt, Hidayah was told that it was confirmed that Zulkifli was put in a police lock-up, but the location was not made known.
"We don't know what he was detained for and if there are any charges. Usually, it would take only a few days for the investigation to complete. Now it has been more than a week. I am just scared that the police over there have refused to believe his statements," she said.
Jumping to her husband's defence, she said there was no way that her husband would be involved in terrorist acts as "he was with us all the time".
"If he was not at the university, he would be at home with us. Whenever we wanted to go out, we always went out in groups," said teary-eyed Hidayah.
"I hope the government can get involved in this matter and help us. We are powerless," she added.
A 'terrorist' face?
Speaking to FMT later, Zulkifli's friend, Nazri Din, said he was on the phone with the former two minutes before the flight was boarding.
"He didn't tell me why he was detained. He only said that his wife was going home without him," said Nazri.
He also said he was told by one of the Malaysian students that Zulkifli could be detained because of his "terrorist look".
"They said Zulkifli had a face similiar to a terrorist's, as he was of Pakistani ancestry. But if that is the case, why didn't they arrest him when he first touched down in Egypt?" he asked.
He also suspected that this could be well linked with Zulkifli's ISA background that came to the knowledge of the Egyptian authorities.
According to him, Egypt has been "careful" with passengers coming in and out of the country now that it was forced to open up its border on Gaza Strip following a deadly attack on a humanitarian flotilla by the Israeli military early this month.
"It (the flotilla attack) happened when Zulkifli was already in Egypt. I think Egypt is now scared that many Muslim fighters would enter Gaza through its border," said Nazri.
He also did not rule out the possibility that it might have something to do with Malaysia's recent call to tighten security in educational institutions due to Jemaah Islamiah's (JI) terrorist network.
"We don't know the real reason behind it. The Malaysian Embassy should pressure the Egyptian government to find out why he was detained. It seems like even the police in Malaysia are hiding something.
"We want the government to be responsible as I am very scared that he will be brought to a third party (the United States) under Israel's pressure," Nazri said, adding that the government "has done nothing" to help.