SHAH ALAM: The Home Ministry would enlist the service of the Registrar of Societies (ROS) and the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) to identify organisations receiving foreign funds to recruit, train and finance militant activities in the country.
Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the government has identified several individuals with links to militant activities that received funding from outside the country though they operated in unregistered and illegal societies.
Speaking after launching the national societies carnival here, today, Zahid said that the effort to identify and eventually stop militant activities that use societies as proxies would involve the anti-terrorism unit from PDRM.
“The government would not let any militant-related activities to slipped our attention especially those known to receive funding from foreign countries,” he said.
He added that investigations related to the joint cooperation between the two agencies fall under the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2001 (AMLA).
Recently, there has been a surge of arrests of foreigners and locals who were found to be actively participating in militant activities, recruiting and training members to participate in war in foreign soil.
Earlier in October, police 155 China’s ethnic minorities Uighurs were found holed up in two apartments in Bukit Jalil where a week later, four Uighurs were arrested in Indonesia after travelling through Kuala Lumpur on suspicion that they were linked to the Islamic State.
While a report in June this year stated that more than 30 Malaysians have joined the militant group to fight in Syria and Iraq. The Home ministry has been actively working with Interpol and other intelligence agencies to monitor Malaysians who might be involved with militant activities.