KUALA LUMPUR: Police are training civilian speakers to help counter the spread of militant ideology by Islamic State (IS) terrorists.
Titled 'Training of Trainers - Danger of Islamic State Militants', the first course was held for three-days starting Saturday, here, with the participation of 50 members of various non-governmental organisations.
The program was organised in collaboration between the federal police Special Branch's Counter-Terrorism Division and Ahli Sunnah Wal Jamaah Malaysia Organisation (Aswaja).
Besides police, participants were also given input by university professors, religious figures and legal experts.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said the initiative was aimed at making the rakyat especially young people understand what IS is really about, hence preventing them from being influenced by the terror group.
"This initiative taken by Aswaja is a very good effort to disseminate the true information about the danger of IS to participants, who will spread it further to curtail the terror group's elements in society.
"Police are always ready to work with any organisation to deliver messages about the dangers of IS," he said.
Khalid spoke to reporters after the course's closing ceremony held at Jalan Ampang earlier today.
He said this was the first such collaboration by the federal police with a non-governmental organisation in training speakers to counter radical beliefs and ideologies.
Besides Aswaja members, among the other NGOs involved were Muslim Consumers Association Malaysia and Tarekat Muktabar Organisation Malaysia.
Aswaja president Zamihan Mat Zin said they plan to train at least 1,000 speakers by the end of this year.
He said the organisation will conduct several other training series in other states, starting with Johor next month.