Five suspected terrorists arrested
Three foreigners among those held in blitz
KUALA LUMPUR: Five suspected militants, including a former al-Qaeda member, were detained following an anti-terror swoop in four states, says Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun.
The Inspector-General of Police said the two Malaysians (a man and a woman), a Pakistani, an Egyptian and a Middle Eastern man – were detained in Selangor, Perak, Kuala Lumpur and Sabah – by the Bukit Aman Special Branch Counter Terrorism Division during the operation, which was held from Oct 13 to Oct 26.
The 50-year-old Egyptian man, who is an executive manager of a private company, was caught on Oct 13.
“We made the arrest in Selangor. He is an ex-member of al-Qaeda and he was active in Afghanistan from 1988 to 1993.
“He met al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden once and he admitted to using fake travel documents to enter Canada, Pakistan and Azerbaijan,” he said.
The man was previously arrested in Egypt and Canada for terrorism-related activities as well as using fake travel documents, Mohamad Fuzi added.
Sources said the Egyptian had been in Malaysia since May. He had been planning to expand his construction company in the country.
“Authorities are checking whether he had used valid documents to enter Malaysia,” a source said.
“They are also checking on his other activities in the country.”
Mohamad Fuzi said the second suspect –a 31-year-old Middle Eastern man – was arrested at the KL International Airport on Oct 20.
“He had issued a death threat against a foreign diplomat in Kuala Lumpur and is also suspected of involvement in terrorism,” he said.
As for the 31-year-old Pakistani man, he was a member of a south Asia-based terror group known as Lashkar-E-Taiba.
“He had weapons training with the terror group. We believe he entered Malaysia illegally in August 2016,” he said.
The fourth arrest, of the 32-yearold Malaysian woman, took place in Gombak on Oct 25.
“She is suspected of channelling funds to slain militant leader Muhammad Wanndy Mohamed Jedi between 2014 and 2017.
“The funds were meant for the cause of IS,” Mohamad Fuzi said.
The last suspect, who was arrested on Oct 26, is a 40-year-old Malaysian man who was a service manager with a telecommunications company in Kota Kinabalu.
“We believe he has been channelling funds to Wannddy and another militant, Muhamad Fudhail Omar, as well as the Abu Sayyaf group.
“The funds were sent between 2015 and 2018,” he said.
Since February 2013, a total of 433 militants have been detained.