KUALA LUMPUR: Police yesterday detained a 39-year-old man believed to be headed for Syria to fight for the Islamic State (IS) group.
The man, said to be from Terengganu, was about to board a flight for Brunei at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang when Bukit Aman’s Special Branch’s Counter-Terrorism Division (SB-CTD) operatives picked him up.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said the suspect was arrested at 5.30am and was being investigated.
Khalid said the soon-to-be-tabled anti-terrorism law was crucial for security agencies to safeguard the country’s security.
“Look at what happened in Sydney, Australia. Whether or not the gunman was related to IS, look at the kind of threat he posed.
“To face this threat, we need to enhance our preparedness not only from the operational side, but also laws so that we can react effectively,” he said after opening the police Federal Reserve Unit’s 59th Anniversary celebration at the unit’s headquarters in Cheras here yesterday.
On Malaysia being the preferred transit point for terrorists, Khalid said police were monitoring the situation. Police, he said, had sound intelligence on terror-related activities and terror networks, including militants in Malaysia, Indonesia and southern Philippines.
Khalid said seven Indonesians, who were arrested by SB-CTD on Dec 2, were deported because they were using Malaysia as a transit point to join IS in Syria.
The suspects, three men and four women aged between 25 and 35, were nabbed after the division got wind of the group’s arrival here. There were also five children in the group.
Khalid was quoted as saying that one of the suspects arrested was a facilitator who was in charge of recruiting and transporting IS militants from Indonesia to Syria.
“He, too, has connection with Umar Patek, an influential militant from the Abu Sayyaf group, and is linked to al-Qaeda affiliates in South East Asia.” By Hariz Mohd