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BENARNEWS- A Malaysian court on Thursday sentenced a 21-year-old truck driver to 16 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to four charges, including one related to receiving instructions from a now dead Malaysian top Islamic State (IS) recruiter.
The punishments for each conviction total 36 years, but Kuala Lumpur High Court Judicial Commissioner Ab Karim Ab Rahman ordered Syed Amir Asyraf Syed Hamdan's punishment to run concurrently. He is to serve the 16 years from the date of his arrest, Aug. 27, 2016.
The sentence stemmed from his conviction on a charge that he accepted instructions from Malaysian IS member Muhammad Wanndy Mohamad Jedi to commit an act of terrorism. Wanndy was killed in a drone attack in Syria on April 29, Malaysian government officials confirmed earlier this month.
In sentencing Syed Amir, Ab Karim declared that any offense related to terror, including supporting a terrorist act, deserved to be punished accordingly.
"Terrorism is a global threat which has no borders. The court has the responsibility to stop such acts," he said in court on Thursday.
Pleading for leniency, lawyer Azamuddin Abd Aziz said his client was young, immature and easily influenced by Wanndy.
Government prosecutor Mohd Izhanudin Alias pressed for deterrent sentences, noting that Syed Amir had received orders directly from Wanndy to carry out acts of terror.
Syed Amir received the 16-year sentence for using the Telegram chat application to accept instructions from Wanndy to commit a terrorist act involving a hand grenade, a pistol and 24 bullets. He was charged under Section 130FA (A), which carries a 30-year sentence and a fine.
Additionally, he was sentenced to 10 years for knowingly providing support to IS by using a Facebook account, under the name of Syed Malizi. He was charged under Section 130J(1)(a), which carries a sentence of life in prison, a fine, or the seizure of items involved in the act.
Syed Amir was sentenced to five years jail for knowingly promoting IS membership through WhatsApp and Facebook and another five years for possessing IS-related photos and videos. The two charges were filed under Sections 130JD(1) and 130JB(1)(a) and carry sentences of  up to seven years and a fine, and the seizure of items involved in the act.
Wanndy designated Global Terrorist
A month before he was killed, the United States Treasury Department designated Wanndy a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.
At the time of his death, at least a third of the more than 250 people arrested in Malaysia for suspected ties to IS between 2013 and 2016 were recruited by or linked to Wanndy, according to police statistics cited by Reuters news service.
In addition, Malaysian authorities blamed Wanndy for orchestrating the first terrorist attack claimed by IS on Malaysian soil – a grenade attack at the Kuala Lumpur-area Movida nightclub that injured eight people in June 2016.
Since 2014, at least 31 Malaysian IS militants, including Wanndy, have been killed in Syria or Iraq, and 56 Malaysians are fighting in Syria, according to government figures obtained by BenarNews.


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BENARNEWS- About 30 men from other countries with suspected ties to terrorism groups have entered Malaysia since 2015 after being deported, mostly from Turkey, Malaysia's top counter-terrorism official told BenarNews.
Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, chief of the counter-terrorism division of the police special branch, said about 10 of those men had been arrested and questioned by Malaysian authorities.
Those who were wanted in other countries or could have ties to militant groups were deported by Malaysian authorities, Ayob said.
"Suspicious characters from Arab nations, Indonesia and some other parts of the world have disembarked from Syria to Malaysia as it was their choice of destination," he told BenarNews late Thursday.
Ayob said most of the men entered Malaysia from Turkey, the main entry point to Syria for foreign fighters seeking to join the Islamic State (IS) and other terrorist groups. Turkish law allows suspects captured trying to travel to Syria to choose where they will be deported.
"Most of the time they would pick Malaysia as it is one of the destinations with relaxed regulations and it welcomes visitors from any country," he said.
In June 2016, Malaysia was a target of an IS attack – a grenade tossed at Movida nightclub near Kuala Lumpur injured eight people. Two Malaysian men pleaded guilty in the attack and were sentenced to 25 years each in prison.
Muhammad Wanndy Bin Mohamed Jedi, a prolific recruiter for IS in Malaysia before he was killed in a drone strike in Syria last month, claimed responsibility for the attack.
Deportations
Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu Bakar on May 4 issued a challenge to foreigners trying to evade authorities in their native countries by entering Malaysia.
"We do not welcome people who are causing problems here. We do not welcome foreigners here who have caused any problem for our people and our country," he said, commenting on the arrests of three Turkish citizens who have since been deported.
The three, a Turkish university board member, an international school principal in the state of Perak and a businessman, were deported on May 11 to Ankara for their alleged links to a group labeled by Turkey as the Fethullah Terrorist Organization.
International rights groups and organizations slammed Malaysia's decision to forcibly send the three back to Turkey, saying their lives were in danger. The men's relatives accused authorities of failing to notify them about their loved ones' expulsion in the middle of the night.
Meanwhile, Ayob said Malaysian authorities have had a tough time dealing with repeated deportations from Turkey as authorities in Kuala Lumpur often are not informed.
"Even when the Turkish authority did [notify us], it would be too late. Sometimes police received notice on the day the person landed here," he said. "It can often be last-minute."
Law enforcement
Azmi Hassan, a geo-political analyst at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia in Johor Bahru, told BenarNews that existing laws have enabled officials to arrest Malaysians and foreign nationals before terror acts can be committed.
"That's the reason sharing of intelligence among nations is critical, so the E8 counter-terrorism division can have a heads-up pursuing unwanted guests here," he said, referring to a police unit. "This shows how serious the authority is in circumventing these militant activities."
Since 2014, at least 31 Malaysian IS militants have been killed in Syria or Iraq. Currently some 56 Malaysians are fighting in Syria, according to government figures obtained by BenarNews. Since 2013, Malaysian authorities have arrested 300 people suspected of having links to IS, of whom 66 have since been freed.
Hata Wahari in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report.


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BENARNEWS- An Indonesian woman charged with murdering the half-brother of North Korea's leader assured her parents in a letter read out in court Tuesday that she would be home soon, despite facing the death penalty if convicted.
Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 25, and Vietnamese Doan Thi Hoang, 28, appeared in a court in Sepang, Malaysia on Tuesday where a judge agreed to transfer their case to a higher court, as requested by the prosecution, but did not set a date for the opening of the trial.
"Don't worry, you don't need to come. Pray for me. This case will end before long and I will be able to come home," an Indonesian embassy official said, reading aloud a letter Siti wrote to her parents back home in a village in West Java.
The divorced mother-of-one said she was in good health and asked her parents to give her regards to her 7-year-old son.
Shortly after their arrests, Siti Aisyah and Doan Thi Hoang told police they were duped into killing Kim Jong Nam by "friends" who told them it was just a harmless prank for a reality show, according to news reports.
The two women arrived in Malaysia days before the assassination but had worked there previously at a spa center and an entertainment outlet, respectively.
Airport security cameras filmed them accosting Kim Jong Nam in the departure terminal of Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 on the morning of Feb. 13, smearing something on his face and rapidly walking away in different directions.
Kim died about 15 minutes later en route to hospital. An autopsy later revealed that VX Nerve Agent, a banned chemical weapon, had killed him.
The two women were charged with his murder on March 1 along with "four others who are still at large," a reference to four North Korean men filmed sitting at an airport restaurant with the women before the murder, who boarded planes out of the country later that day.
The assassination strained ties between Malaysia and North Korea, with both sides expelling their respective ambassadors and imposing exit bans on each other's citizens, as they argued over the body and suspects holed up in the North Korean Embassy.
Tuesday, for the first time, the North Korean Embassy in Kuala Lumpur sent a representative to monitor the proceedings on its behalf.
Jagjit Singh, a high-powered Malaysian defense attorney, told reporters after the court session that he had been working with the North Koreans since March 2 and had helped three North Korean suspects holed up in the Embassy to return to their homeland.
"We worked behind the scenes, negotiating with the government on their behalf to send them back," he said.
Malaysian officials had said that the three – Hyon Kwang Song, the second secretary at the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur; Kim Uk Il, an employee of North Korean state airline Air Koryo; and Ri Ji U, reportedly a chemist – had been caught on CCTV camera at the airport where Kim was assassinated.
Kim's body was flown to North Korea on March 30, after relatives declined to claim it, and the three North Korean suspects left the country the same day.


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BENARNEWS-Military officials in Thailand's Deep South on Tuesday denied allegations from Malaysia's police chief that a man arrested for suspected Islamic State (IS) links had been involved in smuggling weapons across the border between the two countries.
Muhammad Muzaffa Arieff Junaidi, a 27-year-old citizen of Malaysia and resident of the northern state of Kelantan, was arrested after having evaded capture by the authorities and crossing into the Thai Deep South two months ago, Malaysian Police Chief Khalid Abu Bakar announced over the weekend.
Muzaffa was one of six people with suspected IS links whose recent arrests in multiple Malaysian states were publicized by Khalid on Saturday.
"I can confirm that there is no evidence to prove that he [Muzaffa] smuggled weapons as claimed by Malaysian side," Lt. Gen. Piyawat Nakwanich, the commander of the 4th Army that covers the insurgency-stricken Deep South, told BenarNews.
"Nevertheless we have measures to monitor the movement of illegal activities. In the past, we have cooperated with Malaysia in fighting illegal activities," he said.
Earlier this month Piyawat said he had ordered his men to search for Muzaffa after the Malaysian police chief claimed the suspect had entered Thailand with weapons on March 22.
But on May 3, an immigrant police officer stationed at the Sungai Kolok border checkpoint in the southern Thai province of Narathiwat told BenarNews that Muzaffa had travelled in and out of Thailand "several times" and his last exit from the Thai side was recorded April 21.
On Tuesday, a Thai security official stationed in nearby Pattani province, said it was unlikely that arms had been smuggled to Malaysia from the Deep South conflict zone because separatist insurgents in the predominantly Muslim region were low on weapons and ammunition.
"It is highly impossible because the insurgents have no weapons, so they need to steal from the soldiers and police," the official told BenarNews on condition of anonymity.
The source also rejected allegations made by Malaysia's deputy prime minister last week, who cited intelligence reports in saying that recent terrorist attacks carried out in southern Thailand, Jakarta and in Marawi, in the southern Philippines, were all linked to the recent death of a Malaysian IS leader, Muhammad Wanndy Bin Mohamed Jedi.
"The Malay-Pattani people in the Deep South do not accept extremely violent ideology of IS and there are no conditions to join the IS," he added.
Other arrests
The arrests of the six people believed to be involved in "Daesh group terrorist activities," including Muzaffa, took place in the states of Kelantan, Selangor, Perak and Kedah from May 23 to 26, Khalid said in a statement issued Saturday. Daesh is another name for IS.
Muzaffa, a cattle breeder who was involved in "smuggling arms for IS members in Malaysia," turned himself in to Malaysian police on May 23, in a town close to the border, Khalid said.
Muzaffa was involved with two other people who smuggled weapons from Thailand, the police chief said.
The other two, Nik Nazanil Izuan Daud and Mohammad Sabri Mat Zain, were arrested in police raids carried out on March 21 and 24. Both men have since been sentenced to five years in prison and five lashes, Khalid said without specifying the charges.
In the latest arrests of suspects with alleged IS links, besides Muzaffa the Malaysian police's counter-terrorist special branch also caught five men aged between 23 and 54, Khalid said.
Two of the other suspects were brothers. One was a religious teacher, and the other was an online businessman. Both were taken into custody for allegedly supporting IS activities in Syria through two Malaysian members of Islamic State based in that country, Khalid said.
"Both suspects were also related to Muhammad Fudhail Omar who once instructed an IS militant in Sabah to lodge a lone wolf attack in Sandakan on August 4 last year," Khalid said.
Malaysian officials have identified Fudhail as one of a handful of Malaysian IS figures who have replaced Wanndy since he was killed in an airstrike in Syria last month.
A fourth suspect, who was arrested on May 25, is a 54-year-old army retiree from Kulim in the state of Kedah.
"The man had channeled over 20,000 ringgit [U.S. $4,670] for IS militants in Syria in several transactions. A son of the man, named Afif Safwan Azuddin, is already with the IS group in Syria," Khalid said.
The fifth and sixth suspects, both in their early thirties, were arrested on May 25 in Selangor and Kedah, respectively. One was working as a quality control officer at a private company the other man was unemployed.
According to Khalid, all six men were arrested under Malaysia's Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Act 747) and being investigated for terrorism offenses.
Since 2013, Malaysian authorities have arrested 306 people suspected of having links to IS, of whom 66 have since been freed, according to latest figures from the government compiled by BenarNews.


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BENARNEWS- Two top editors at Malaysia's leading English daily newspaper have been suspended and other journalists have been questioned by police over a front page published on the first day of Ramadan that was deemed offensive to Muslims.
The government has given The Star a week to explain why it should not be suspended for the content it printed on page one on May 27.
That day, The Star's front page showed a picture of Muslims in congregational prayers to mark the beginning of the Islamic month Ramadan. The photograph was sandwiched between a banner headline about a terrorism leader at the top of the page and a Samsung phone ad promoting a spa package that showed a bare-shouldered woman being massaged.
Home Ministry Secretary General Alwi Ibrahim said the badly placed headline painted a poor image of Muslims as terrorists.
"The Star newspaper has been given seven days to reply to the show-cause letter as to why actions under the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) 1984, including suspension of publishing permit, should not be taken," he said in a statement on Monday.
Under the act, the ministry can revoke or suspend a permit for any period it considers desirable.
Malaysian Police Inspector-General Khalid Abu Bakar confirmed that the paper was being investigated on suspicion of inciting religious enmity.
Among those offended by the page was Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party Information Chief Nasruddin Hassan Tantawi, who called it extreme and rude and said it mocked members of Malaysia's Muslim majority.
The Star responds
The ruckus led to The Star suspending Editor-in-Chief Leanne Goh and Executive Editor Dorairaj Nadason on Tuesday. Details of the suspensions were not released.
As of Wednesday, six employees had been questioned by police regarding Saturday's publication. Accompanied by company lawyers, five senior editors and a photographer were questioned at police headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.
The 250,000-circulation Star, owned by Malaysian Chinese Association, an ethnic Chinese-led party in Malaysia's ruling coalition Barisan Nasional (BN), apologized on Sunday for poor judgment regarding the front page marking the start of Ramadan.
"It has been the practice of The Star to respect the first day of Ramadan every year and to place the picture of Muslims at the first prayers on the front page of the paper. This has been done over the last decade or so," the newspaper said. "In hindsight, The Star should have been more discerning and sensitive to the feelings of our Muslim readers."
An assistant news editor who spoke to BenarNews on condition of anonymity said the government was over-reacting, because it was clear that the picture and headline were not related.
"The words 'see reports on Page 3' were clearly stated under the 'Malaysian terrorist leader' headline on the front page and the picture of Muslims in a prayer also had an accompanying caption – so how can anyone mistake the two articles to be connected?
"Even if bad judgment had been made, the least the government could have done is let the paper take an internal action against those responsible," the employee told BenarNews.
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Journalism groups question government
The Institute of Journalists Malaysia (IoJ) said it was concerned by the government's action and called for media to be self-regulated.
"The IoJ is of the view that such heavy-handed action is highly disproportionate to the perceived offense, which could arguably boil down to editorial oversight as opposed to any deliberate attempt to sow racial and religious divisions as claimed by critics," the group said in a statement Wednesday.
"The IoJ repeats its position that the only way forward in promoting a free press is to allow media organizations to decide for themselves how to deal with such issues and to determine their editorial direction, without undue and misplaced pressure from the authorities."
The front page of the May 27 edition of The Star has drawn complaints from Muslim groups, May 28, 2017. [HadiAzmi/BenarNews]
Other media groups offered similar support for the newspaper.
The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (Wan-Ifra) Media Freedom Committee of Malaysia agreed on the call for journalists to be their own watchdogs.
"This can be done through the formation of a media council, with representatives from the print, online and broadcast media, and which would act as an ombudsman for public complaints against media," the committee said in a statement.
Another media advocacy group, Gerakan Media Merdeka (Geramm), joined the call for a council, saying it would "prevent third parties using issues to further their own agenda."
Meanwhile, a youth official representing the main party of the ruling coalition, the United Malays National Organization, the largest component party of BN, said the issue should not be prolonged.
"A stern warning for the editor to be sensitive and careful with future publication is sufficient. After all, it's Ramadan, the month of forgiveness," Raja Azraff Raja Azmil told BenarNews.
Hadi Azmi in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this story.


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BENARNEWS- Malaysian government officials on Wednesday rejected reports that senior leaders of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which Israel and the United States have branded a terrorist organization, were in Malaysia after being asked to leave Qatar.
Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said he had checked with immigration officials regarding the news reports that some top Hamas leaders might now be in the country.
Reports this week in the Israeli media, which cited Palestinian sources, said Qatar's government had asked several Hamas leaders who were staying in the kingdom to leave and disperse by going to Malaysia, Lebanon or Turkey. On Monday, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates cut diplomatic ties with the tiny, oil-rich nation of Qatar over its alleged support of terrorist groups and Iran.
"We reject the rumors that three Hamas leaders from Palestine who have been given refuge in Qatar are now in Malaysia," Zahid, who is also Malaysia's home minister, told reporters at a Ramadan fast-breaking event in Kuala Lumpur.
The names of two Hamas leaders identified by Israeli authorities as wanted terrorists, Saleh al-Arouri and Musa Dudin, were on a list that Qatar gave the Palestinian organization in asking the men to leave, said Ynetnews, a website based in Israel.
"The names we have received from intelligence sources have been checked with the Immigration Department. There are no such names entering into Malaysia," he added without releasing the names of the Hamas leaders.
Malaysian Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar declined to comment on the reports when contacted by BenarNews.
Israeli intelligence officials believe that Arouri helped plot the kidnapping and murders of three Israeli teenagers in June 2014, according to a report by the Times of Israel.
Haaretz, another Israeli news outlet, reported that Arouri was military commander overseeing terror cells in the West Bank and that Dudin, who was released as a part of an exchange of prisoners, had established a cell in Gaza in charge of planning terrorist attacks in the West Bank.
Hamas denies, Qatar keeping mum
Hamas, for its part, rejected the reports that its officials were told to leave Doha, while Qatari officials have been silent on the matter.
"We, in Hamas, deny the claims of some media outlets regarding a list submitted by Qatar including the names of Hamas leaders whom Qatar asked to leave the country," Hamas spokesman Husam Badran said in a statement issued Monday.
"We assure that this is a part which has always been played by some media outlets who are used to promoting fabricated news about Hamas in order to distort its image and to damage its external relations."
The long-time foe of Israel is on the U.S. State Department's list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
Malaysia's relationship with Hamas
Over the years, Malaysian officials have expressed sympathy for Hamas and the cause of Palestinian statehood.
The ruling United Malays National Organization party, led by Prime Minister Najib Razak, has hosted Hamas leaders at political events. In 2013, Najib visited Gaza during a highly publicized one-day visit and held a news conference with Hamas leader Ismail Haniya.
"This is a humanitarian visit to express our deep concerns for what happens to the Palestinian people in Gaza and to express our opposition to the aggression on Gaza," he told reporters at the time.
The visit drew a negative response from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, leader of the other main Palestinian political party, Fatah.
"The Palestinian presidency announces its rejection and condemnation of the Malaysian prime minister's visit to Gaza," a statement by the Palestinian official news agency WAFA said.
Hamas controls the Gaza Strip while Fatah controls the nearby West Bank.
A year later, Israel accused Malaysia of allowing Hamas militants to carry out military training on Malaysian territory. Malaysian officials have denied the allegation.
On Wednesday, Zahid said Malaysia remained friendly to all nations and denied that Saudi Arabia had placed pressure on the government to severe ties with Qatar.
"The problem they are facing is regional and we hope they will be able to solve it soon," he said.
Earlier, Najib said Malaysia was tracking events in the region.
"We are close to the Gulf countries and we do not know what the issues are, but, at the moment, we will monitor developments," Najib told the New Straits Times.
Hata Wahari in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this story.


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BENARNEWS- A Malaysian court Thursday sentenced nine Filipinos to death for taking part in a foiled incursion in the eastern state of Sabah that left more than 70 people dead four years ago. 

A three-member Appeals Court panel in Putrajaya overturned last year's life sentences handed to the nine defendants by a lower court, which convicted them of participating in the incursion. The prosecution had appealed to the appellate court to change those sentences to capital punishment.

Court documents said the nine belonged to the Royal Sulu Force, who identified themselves as followers of the late Jamalul Kiram III, the self-proclaimed sultan of Sulu in the southern Philippines.

Amirbahar Hushin Kiram, the nephew of Kiram III, was among the nine Filipinos who received the death penalty on Thursday.

As he delivered the death sentence on Thursday, Justice Mohd Zawawi Salleh described the attack as unprecedented in Malaysia and said prosecutors compiled enough evidence proving that the intrusion had been pre-planned and carefully executed.

"For above reasons, we allow the appeal and set aside the sentence imposed by High Court against the respondents and substitute it with the death penalty against each of the respondents," Zawawi said. 

They came by sea

In February 2013, a band of some 200 armed men arrived in a flotilla of rickety boats from the nearby Sulu islands, and occupied part of the coastline of Sabah, which lies in Malaysian Borneo, for several weeks as they asserted the sultanate's claim of historical rule over Sabah. 

The incursion was Malaysia's most serious security crisis in recent memory. Seventy-two people, including 56 Sulu gunmen, 10 members of the Malaysian security forces and six civilians were killed in gunfights that spread over several weeks. The fighting ended when the remaining militants fled and returned to the Philippines. 

The nine Filipinos, aged between 42 and 77, were among 23 men who faced multiple charges, including "waging war against the King of Malaysia," which is punishable by death or life in prison under Section 121 of the Malaysian Penal Code.

The other defendants received sentences ranging from 10 to 18 years.

Reacting to Thursday's courtroom ruling in Malaysia, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said Manila would continue to extend legal assistance to the Filipinos, noting that the Court of Appeal's decision was not final. 

"[The case] will be heard by the Federal Court of Malaysia [Supreme Court] under automatic appeal," the department said in a statement. 

The Sultanate of Sulu, which was founded in 1405, ruled the islands in the Sulu Archipelago, parts of Mindanao in the southern Philippines and parts of Borneo, including Sabah, until about the early 19th century. Sabah was incorporated into Malaysia in 1963, but the country still pays token rent to the Sulu Sultanate on an annual basis.

Because of the short distance between Malaysia and the southern Philippines, many Filipinos mostly from the Mindanao islands have migrated to Sabah during the 1970s to escape the armed conflict between government forces and secessionist guerrillas. 

About 800,000 Filipinos live in Sabah, which has a population of more than 3.5 million.  

Felipe Villamor in Manila contributed to this report.

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BENARNEWS- Malaysia's Health Ministry said Thursday that it had straightened out its video competition about sexual health by removing the term "gender identity disorder" from a category after an uproar from gay and lesbian groups in the Muslim-majority country.
The ministry said it had changed one of the categories for a video contest among young people and deleted the guidelines about "preventing homosexuality," following a meeting between health officials and leaders of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community and other groups.
"The meeting successfully cleared the misunderstanding and collectively improvements were made to the competition guidelines," Lokman Hakim Sulaiman, the ministry's deputy director-general, said in a statement.
Advertised on the ministry's website and Facebook page, the contest sparked indignation among activists who said it could spawn hatred and violence against the LGBT community.
On Thursday, the ministry said the categories have been changed to "gender and sexuality," "reproductive health" and "cybersex."
Officials said the contest was not aimed at discriminating against the LGBT community, but to explore views among teens and identify other health issues. The competition asked contestants aged 13 to 24 years old to submit video clips, and offered cash prizes of about U.S. $1,000.
'Damage control'
But the health ministry's latest move did not impress the LGBT community.
"All that is just damage control," Neo Redzuan, an activist and member of the LGBT community, told BenarNews. "There wasn't any confusion about the wording or terminology. It was very clear what they intended to do.
"The news about the competition is all over the international news, so it's a 'save-face' measure at best," he said.
On Wednesday, a local filmmaker and a comedian launched a counter-competition to send positive messages on Malaysia's LGBT community.
Jared Lee of Grim Film Productions and comedian Jason Leong called for contestants to create a three-minute video clip in Bahasa Malaysia, English or Chinese with the theme "Pro LGBT."
"We both believe in making a stand that it is not wrong to be in the LGBT community," Lee told The Malaysian Insight, an online news provider.
"The LGBT community should not be segmented and that they should not fear," Lee said.
Malaysia has retained its colonial-era criminal ban on sodomy, broadly defined to include homosexual acts and punishable by prison sentences of up to 20 years or corporal punishment, such as whipping.
In March, Malaysian authorities postponed the release of Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" because of gay content. But Disney refused to bow to the government's demands to cut a scene of the gay character LeFou and the movie was eventually shown uncensored.


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BENARNEWS- Jailed de facto Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim filed a lawsuit Friday to overturn his sodomy conviction and win his freedom after reports surfaced that the lead prosecutor had received millions from the prime minister to handle the case.
The lawsuit, filed with the Kuala Lumpur High Court registrar, names the Malaysian government as the defendant.
Anwar claims the appointment of Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, a lawyer in private practice, as the public prosecutor to conduct the appeal went against the attorney general's usual practice. Anwar also claims the lawyer was not an independent prosecutor and did not discharge his duties fairly.
The founder of the opposition People's Justice Party was charged with sodomizing a former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, in 2008. The High Court acquitted Anwar in 2012 but the Court of Appeal reversed that decision and sentenced him in 2014 to five years in prison.
While Anwar said he was not aware of an allegation by the Sarawak Report, a British-based whistleblower website, that Prime Minister Najib Razak had made payments to Muhammad Shafee, his lawyer touched on the report after filing the appeal.
"This lawsuit is filed today because there has been a new disclosure that the prosecutor had received payments of 9.5 million ringgit (U.S $2.22 million) and we are asking for an urgent trial date because Anwar should not remain in prison even for one more day," lawyer N. Surendran said.
"As a Malaysian citizen, Anwar should get a fair trial including an independent prosecutor and not influenced by a third party through monetary inducement," he added.
Muhammad Shafee had little to say to reporters as he walked to his car.
"I will issue a statement, but not today," he said.
Najib did not comment on the allegation, but former Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan questioned its validity. Musa served from 2006 to 2010 and Najib became prime minister in 2009.
In 2015, the government said that Muhammad Shafee was paid 1,000 ringgit (U.S. $234) to handle the case.
Case history
Friday's court action follows a lawsuit filed less than two months ago when Anwar claimed the government filed falsified evidence which led to his five-year sentence on his sodomy conviction. The April 17 lawsuit alleges his conviction was based on perjured testimony from his former aide, the prosecution's main witness.
This is Anwar's second sodomy conviction. After he was acquitted in 2004 of a charge filed in 1998, Anwar claimed he was framed by the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), the party that leads Malaysia's ruling bloc.
Malaysian government officials and UMNO leaders have denied framing Anwar.


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BENARNEWS- Malaysia's defense minister Friday proposed a special meeting with his counterparts from Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand to discuss what he described as a threat to all five countries by the extremist group Islamic State (IS).
Minister Hishammuddin Hussein made the remarks as he visited Mindanao island in the southern Philippines, where he met with his Philippine counterpart, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana. Mindanao is where IS-linked Filipino militant groups, backed by fighters from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and other nations, have been battling Philippine government forces in the besieged city of Marawi for well over two weeks.
In a statement released Friday, Hishammuddin said the five defense ministers should meet as soon as possible to discuss ways to work together to counter a regional threat from IS.
"This is because the five countries directly and indirectly are involved with the Daesh threat," he said, referring to IS by another name. "This situation must be addressed immediately before they become more aggressive and jeopardize the stability and sovereignty in the region."
Hishammuddin also expressed his government's support for Manila's campaign to dislodge the IS-linked militants from Marawi, where almost 200 people have been killed and tens of thousands of residents uprooted since fighting broke out there on May 23.
"I told Secretary Lorenzana that Malaysia takes seriously and does not compromise with such kind of violent threat," Hishammuddin said. "I hope that fighting in southern Mindanao is coming to an end and stability in the region could be restored."
"I also share the desire to hold a special meeting with our counterparts from Thailand, Singapore, Philippines and Indonesia in the near future," he said, explaining that the meeting would discuss strategies and methods to combat militant groups in the region.
While officials in the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore have openly talked about a threat to their national security posed by IS militants and sympathizers, Thailand's junta-led government has never said such a threat exists in the Buddhist-majority country, where a separatist insurgency is raging in the predominantly Muslim region known as the Deep South.
Citing intelligence reports, Malaysia's deputy prime minister last month said recent terrorist attacks carried out in southern Thailand, Jakarta and Marawi were all linked to the recent killing in Syria of a Malaysian IS leader, Muhammad Wanndy Bin Mohamed Jedi.
"The Malay-Pattani people in the Deep South do not accept the extremely violent ideology of IS and there are no conditions to join the IS," a Thai security official posted in the Deep South told BenarNews in May.
New launch date for joint patrols
Hishammuddin made his comments as Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines have been talking for more than a year about joining forces in trilateral patrols to safeguard the Sulu and Sulawesi seas from the threat of piracy and maritime kidnappings.
The launch date for these patrols has previously been delayed, but they will be launched from Tarakan, Indonesia, on June 19, the Malaysian defense minister said in his statement.
For years, the Abu Sayyaf Group, which is based in Mindanao, has been kidnapping and holding hostages for ransom, and executing some of them. In February, the group released a video showing the beheading of a German hostage, Jurgen Kantner, after a deadline for a U.S. $600,000 (2.6 million ringgit) ransom passed.
Last year, ASG militants were also blamed for attacks on ships in waters between Borneo island and the southern Philippines that resulted in abductions of dozens of Indonesian and Malaysian sailors. Most have been released.


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BENARNEWS- One of the first Malaysians linked to the extremist group Islamic State (IS) has been killed in Iraq, senior officials in Malaysia's government confirmed Monday.
Mohd Nizam Ariffin (also known as Abu Afghan), 38, was killed in the city of Mosul during clashes with Iraqi government security forces on Friday, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said.
Last year, Nizam had appeared in an IS propaganda video in which he and a fellow countryman warned Malaysian authorities of terrorist attacks being plotted on home soil, officials said.
"Nizam was involved with terror groups and got involved in the clash at his own risk. His death is not considered as 'syahid.' He is no martyr," the New Straits Times newspaper quoted Zahid as saying on Monday.
A senior counter-terrorism official also confirmed Nizam's death, but said authorities were gathering more details.
According to the source who requested anonymity, Nizam is among 31 Malaysian militants who have been killed while fighting for IS in Syria and Iraq, while 56 others are believed to be fighting in those countries.
Nizam left Malaysia for Syria on March 6, 2014, the source said.
"He is one of the early Malaysians who arrived in Syria," the official told BenarNews.
According to the source, Mohd Nizam joined the Ajnad al-Sham militant group in Syria but later signed on with IS when his friend, Lotfi Ariffin, died in September 2014. Lotfi, a former religious teacher, was information chief for the faith-based Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) in the northern state of Kedah. He died from wounds suffered in an assault by Syrian government forces.
The source played down the impact of Mohd Nizam's death.
"Abu Afghan's death is not so significant as he didn't hold any important role," the source said.
Zahid, who is also Malaysia's home minister, said the Malaysian government would not be repatriating Nizam's body because he died a terrorist.
"If his family wants to bring back his body, then they will need to communicate with his friends," The Star, another Malaysian paper, quoted the minister as saying.
Warning of attacks
In January 2016, Nizam and another Malaysian fighter in Syria, Abdul Halid Dari, appeared in a video featuring the IS logo in which they warned that attacks would take place back home in retaliation for the arrests of IS members and supporters in the country.
Since 2013, Malaysian authorities have arrested 306 people suspected of having links to IS, of whom 66 have since been freed, according to government figures compiled by BenarNews.
In the video, the duo spoke in Malay and demanded the release of those who had been detained.
"In the video, they also identified themselves as members of Katibah Nusantara and called on their 'Somalia brothers,' Al-Shabaab, to join the group in fighting in Syria," the senior counter-terrorism official told BenarNews.
The official was referring to a combat unit of IS, Katibah Nusantara, which is made up exclusively of fighters from across the Malay Archipelago who speak Malay or variations of the language, including Indonesians.
Authorities in Malaysia and neighboring Indonesia have long warned of a threat posed by IS and like-minded groups using social media to indoctrinate and recruit local youths as supporters and combatants.
On June 28, 2016, suspected militants hurled a grenade outside a nightclub in Puchong district, a 30-minute drive from the capital Kuala Lumpur. Eight people were wounded in the attack, which was the first one claimed by IS on Malaysian soil.
In March, two men were sentenced to 25 years in prison for the grenade attack.
Malaysian police had blamed Muhammad Wanndy Bin Mohamed Jedi, Malaysia's most-wanted IS member for the incident at the Movida nightclub. Wanndy was a prolific IS recruiter who was killed on April 29 in a drone strike in Raqqa, Syria.
Singapore arrests IS supporter
Elsewhere on Monday, authorities in neighboring Singapore announced a 22-year-old woman who was allegedly planning to go to Syria with her child and marry an IS fighter had been arrested.
Syaikhah Izzah Zahrah Al Ansari, who worked as an infant care assistant at a community nursery and became radicalized at age 18 after watching IS propaganda videos, was the first woman to be taken into custody under Singapore's Internal Security Act (ISA), the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a news release.
"Izzah was intent on joining ISIS and was actively planning to make her way to Syria, with her young child," the ministry said, using another acronym for IS and noting that she had actively posted and shared IS-related materials online.
Since 2015, 14 Singaporeans have been detained on suspicion of having IS links, officials said. Under Singapore's Internal Security Act, officials are allowed to detain terror suspects without trial for up to two years.
The Southeast Asian region has been on high alert in recent weeks after IS-inspired Filipino militants, backed by foreign fighters, including those from Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, flew the black IS flag in the southern Philippine city of Marawi. After three weeks of fighting, the militants remain locked in battles with Philippine government forces.
At least 227 people, including 138 militants, have been killed since fighting there broke out on May 23.


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BENARNEWS- The estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was carrying an undisclosed amount of cash when he was murdered at a Kuala Lumpur airport in February, Malaysia's police chief confirmed Wednesday, in the latest twist to the case that sparked international attention.
Police Inspector-General Khalid Abu Bakar declined to give the amount of money that Kim Jong Nam had with him when he was allegedly poisoned to death at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA2) on Feb 13.
Japan's Asahi Shimbun on Monday reported that he was carrying U.S. $120,000 (511,806 ringgit) in four bundles that each contained 300 U.S. bills in 100-dollar denominations.
The bundles of cash, in mostly mint condition, were in a black bag found among Kim's belongings, the article said.
"Yes, an amount of money was found on the victim but I won't confirm for you the figure," Police Inspector-General Khalid Abu Bakar told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.
"Don't believe the foreign media." he said, referring to the Asahi report. "The foreign press, when writing stories, tend to make it livelier."
According to Asahi, because Kim Jong Nam held a diplomatic passport, his luggage was not subject to thorough screening when entering and leaving the country.
Citing Malaysian investigative authorities, the Japanese newspaper also reported that Kim Jong Nam had met with a man "believed to have links with a U.S. intelligence agency" during Kim's eight-day stay in Malaysia.
According to the report, an unidentified official said Kim could have received the cash from the man in return for providing information.
Two Southeast Asian women have been charged with murder for allegedly poisoning Kim Jong Nam to death by smearing a banned chemical agent on his face as they accosted him at KLIA2, while he was preparing to board a flight to Macau, where he and his family lived.
Kim died about 15 minutes later while en route to a hospital.
Indonesian Siti Aisyah and Vietnamese Doan Thi Hoang were charged in court in March with Kim's murder along with "four others who are still at large" – a reference to North Korean men who were spotted on surveillance cameras at an airport restaurant with the women, moments before the attack on Kim.
The men boarded planes and left the country later that day, police said.
Malaysia, South Korea and the United States had linked Kim Jong Un's regime to the murder, which strained nearly four decades of diplomatic ties between Malaysia and North Korea.
Six weeks after Kim Jong Nam's death, two other North Korean nationals identified by Malaysian police as suspects in the killing and who had hid in the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur were allowed to return home aboard a plane that carried Kim's body.
Malaysian authorities granted custody of the body to the North Korean authorities on March 30 in exchange for nine Malaysians who had been trapped in Pyongyang by an exit ban.
North Korea had strongly denied any role in Kim's killing and even refused to identify the body as that of Kim Jong Nam, who was carrying a passport bearing the name of Kim Chol when he was attacked.

The female suspects are scheduled to appear Friday at a "case management" hearing in a courtroom at the Kajang Women's Prison in Selangor state. Officials moved the hearing from the Shah Alam High Court because of security concerns.


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BENARNEWS- Malaysia's police chief on Friday announced the arrests in Sabah state of two Indonesians and a Malaysian suspected of planning to cross over by sea to join Islamic State-linked fighters battling military forces in the southern Philippine city of Marawi.
Counter-terrorism officials, who are on heightened alert against possible militant attacks, arrested the three men a day earlier in Sandakan, a coastal town in the eastern state, where there are ferry services to the nearby Southern Philippines, Police Inspector-General Khalid Abu Bakar said.
"We believe the three were trying to gain safe passage to Marawi city in the southern Philippines," Khalid told reporters in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.
The suspects, whose names Khalid did not disclose, were taken into custody under Malaysia's Security Offenses (Special Measures) Act of 2012, he said.
During their arrests in Sabah, counter-terrorism officials seized three "Rambo" fighting knives from the suspects, the police chief said.
"They wanted to use the weapons on police if they got arrested. Luckily, they failed to use them," Khalid said.
The arrests occurred during business hours near a mosque in Sandakan, bringing the town's downtown area to a standstill as residents filmed the police operation on their mobile phones.
"Glad that police are proactive and able to take action before any bad incident happens," Chan Tzun Hei, a community development officer in Sandakan, told BenarNews.
Regional worries
Earlier this year, in announcing the arrests in Sabah of a Filipino, two Bangladeshis and a Malaysian woman as suspected members of local IS cell, police chief Khalid warned that Islamic State planned to use Sabah territory as a transit point for sending its fighters to the southern Philippines.
The announcement of Thursday's arrests came a week after Malaysia's defense minister proposed a special meeting with his counterparts from Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand to discuss what he described as a threat to all five countries by the extremist group Islamic State (IS).
Minister Hishammuddin Hussein made the remarks as he visited Cotabato City, which is located on Mindanao island where battles between IS-linked militants and Philippine military forces have raged for more than three weeks in Marawi city. The militants in Marawi have been backed by fighters from Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and other regions, Philippine officials said.
The fighting, which broke out on May 23, has alarmed governments across Southeast Asia, with officials expressing fears that the ultra-radical IS might set up a stronghold in Mindanao, potentially threatening the region.
Foreign fighters have entered Mindanao and linked up with local extremists by using "back channels" in the Sulu and Celebes seas near the boarders of Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia, according to Philippine officials.
Third Indonesian picked up
Khalid also said that, in a separate incident on Monday, counter-terrorism officials foiled an attempted attack against authorities by arresting another Indonesian man at the Slim River in the state of Perak, about 100 km (62.5 miles) north of Kuala Lumpur.
"The suspect who came in on a valid travel pass had wanted to launch an attack against Royal Malaysian Police members," Khalid told reporters, declining to provide details.
He said the four suspects had odd jobs and were aged between 30 and 48.
Since 2013, Malaysian authorities have arrested 310 people suspected of having IS links, of whom 66 have since been freed, according to government figures compiled by BenarNews.
Authorities remain vigilant in their efforts to hunt down other IS militants and sympathizers, Khalid said.
"The police will continue to intensify operations against terror elements," he said.
Southeast Asia Games
Khalid said authorities were also on heightened alert, bracing themselves for possible terror threats during the 29th Southeast Asian Games, a multi-sport event involving 11 countries. It is scheduled to take place in Kuala Lumpur, from Aug. 19 to 31.
"We are not just talking about threats from Daesh, but also any form of threats from any entities that may jeopardize our nation and [the] SEA Games," he said, using another name for IS.
Colin Forsythe in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia contributed to this report.


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BENARNEWS- Prosecutors on Friday handed over post-mortem and toxicology reports along with dozens of other documents of evidence to lawyers representing two Southeast Asian women charged with fatally poisoning the half-brother of North Korea's dictator at a Malaysian airport in February.
The attorneys for the women will use the 44 documents to prepare for their clients' upcoming trial. But the lawyer representing one of the suspects said he did not receive the CCTV footage showing the alleged nerve agent attack at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 on Feb.13 that killed Kim Jong Nam, the estranged relative of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
"How long does it take to download a video onto a CD? You can do it in one day," said attorney Gooi Soon Seng, who represents Indonesian suspect Siti Aisyah.
"They have not even replied to us. We are totally disappointed that they had never even replied to us," he told journalists after a closed-door hearing the Kajang Women's Prison, south of Kuala Lumpur.
Among the documents turned over to the defense teams were police reports, statements from the defendants, autopsy pictures, forensic pictures, passport verification for the victim and the suspects and toxicology reports, according to a list viewed by BenarNews.
Gooi said his defense team had hired experts from Denmark to examine the evidence including nerve agent VX, which was ruled the cause of Kim's death and is classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations.
The lawyers for both suspects appeared before High Court deputy registrar Nasrudin Mohamed at the Kajang Women's Prison. Officials moved the hearing there from the Shah Alam High Court, citing security concerns.
Both Siti Aisyah and Vietnamese co-defendant Doan Thi Hoang are well and have no complaints about the prison, their lawyers said.
Next hearing in July
Outside the prison in Selangor state, public prosecutor Iskandar Ahmad confirmed that the documents were given to the defense teams. Both sides said the case was scheduled to resume July 28 at the Shah Alam High Court before Judge Azmi Ariffin.
The two women allegedly poisoned Kim Jong Nam by smearing the nerve agent on his face at the airport while he was preparing to board a flight to Macau, where he and his family lived. Kim died about 15 minutes later as he was being transported to a hospital.
Aisyah and Doan were charged in March with Kim's murder along with "four others who are still at large" – a reference to North Korean men who were spotted on surveillance cameras at an airport restaurant with the women moments before the attack on Kim. The men boarded planes and left the country later that day.
The assassination strained ties between Malaysia and North Korea, with both sides expelling their respective ambassadors and imposing exit bans on each other's citizens, as they argued over the body and suspects holed up in the North Korean Embassy.
Kim's body was returned to North Korea on March 30 at the same time that nine Malaysians who had been trapped in North Korea because of the exit ban returned to Kuala Lumpur.
Doan's lawyers, Naran Singh, Hisyam Teh Poh Teik and Salim Bashir, said they were satisfied with the evidence from prosecutors.
"The documents are the post-mortem report, the chemist report, the arrest report and some documentary reports," Naran said, adding he expects CCTV footage relating to assassination to be handed over soon.
The women, who face the death penalty if convicted, said they were duped into believing they were taking part in a reality TV show.
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Lawyers for Vietnamese suspect Doan Thi Hoang speak to reportersfollowing the hearing at the Kajang Women's Prison, June 16, 2017. (Fadzil Aziz/BenarNews)


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BENARNEWS- United States authorities have stepped up efforts to seize assets, including a diamond necklace for Prime Minister Najib Razak's wife, bought with money allegedly stolen from Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund, according to a lawsuit filed in a California court this week.
In the suit lodged at the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Thursday, the Justice Department moved to recover about U.S. $540 million (2.3 billion ringgit) in assets allegedly stolen by businessmen associated with the 1Malaysia Development Berhad fund, known as 1MDB, established by Najib to promote economic development.
About a year ago, the United States filed court papers to "forfeit and recover" more than $1 billion (4.2 billion ringgit) in assets associated with what it called a global conspiracy to launder funds stolen from 1MDB.
This week, U.S. Justice officials said a total of $4.5 billion (19.2 billion ringgit) had been misappropriated from 1MDB. It did not name Najib in both the suits, but Malaysian and U.S. government officials previously confirmed that "Malaysian Official 1" cited in court documents referred to the prime minister.
"Today's complaints reveal another chapter of this multi-year, multi-billion-dollar fraud scheme, bringing the total identified stolen proceeds to $4.5 billion," acting assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco said in a statement Thursday.
"This money financed the lavish lifestyles of the alleged co-conspirators at the expense and detriment of the Malaysian people," he said. "We are unwavering in our commitment to ensure the United States is not a safe haven for corrupt individuals and kleptocrats to hide their ill-gotten wealth or money, and that recovered assets be returned to the victims from which they were taken."
Nearly $28 million (119 million ringgit) allegedly from siphoned proceeds from a bond sale linked to the 1MDB scandal was used to buy jewelry for Najib's wife, Rosmah Mansor, according to the civil lawsuit.
"Funds traceable to the diverted proceeds of the 2013 bond sale were used to purchase a 22-carat pink diamond, set in a diamond necklace, for the wife of Malaysian Official 1," according to the court documents.
"The stone and necklace were purchased from New York-based jeweler and jewelry designer Lorraine Schwartz Inc., which specializes in high-end bespoke diamond jewelry. The total purchase price for the stone and necklace was $27,300,000."
'A deeply flawed case': Jho Low
Other assets sought by the U.S. authorities include a Picasso painting given to American film star Leonardo DiCaprio and the rights to two Hollywood films.
The jewelry purchases for Rosmah were allegedly arranged by controversial Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low, who is also accused of giving DiCaprio the Picasso.
In a statement issued through a representative, Low said the Justice Department's actions were "a further example of global overreach in pursuit of a deeply flawed case," according to Reuters news agency.
"The U.S. Department of Justice's latest move continues its inappropriate efforts to seize assets despite not having proven that any improprieties have occurred," the statement said.
A spokesman for DiCaprio on Thursday said the actor had begun proceedings to transfer ownership of the Picasso to the U.S. government, having in July 2016 initiated the return of gifts he had received from financiers connected to the 1MDB case, Reuters also reported.
Najib had been tied to the 1MDB scandal for the past two years since the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported in July 2015 that nearly $700 million ended up in his private bank accounts. He has denied wrongdoing or taking money for personal gain over the 1MDB affair.
Malaysian Attorney General Apandi Ali previously said the funds that went into Najib's account were a legal political donation from Saudi Arabia and most of the money was returned.
On Friday, he again came to Najib's defense, saying the U.S. Justice Department was making insinuations against the premier.
"At no point in the civil claims is the prime minister named as a defendant or has been alleged to have committed any criminal wrongdoing," Apandi said, adding there was no evidence of misappropriation of money from the state fund.
"After review, we found that no crime was committed," Apandi said, noting there was an ongoing investigation by Malaysian police.
The country's top government lawyer also expressed his frustration that the U.S. Justice Department had failed to "inform or alert" his office over the latest suit.
Former Malaysian Law Minister Zaid Ibrahim questioned Apandi's stand.
"The U.S. Dept of Justice complaint on 1MDB is 250 pages long, and AG Apandi is still insisting it is without basis?" Zaid said on his Twitter account.
The cash-strapped and state-run Malaysian fund is the target of money-laundering probes in at least one-half dozen countries including neighboring Singapore.
Najib's press secretary, Tengku Sariffuddin Tengku Ahmad, also came to the premier's defense, suggesting the suit went "beyond the objective of seizing assets."
"The judicial process is not served by headline seeking. Malaysia stands firm in its support of transparency and good governance. That includes ensuring that accusations have a basis in fact, rather than smears briefed by political opponents," he said in a statement.
Eric Paulsen, executive director of Lawyers for Liberty, a local NGO, said Malaysian enforcement authorities must first question Jho Low before criticizing the Justice Department's move.
However, Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu Bakar indicated his department would not extend any help to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in its probes related to 1MDB.
"No (cooperating with FBI) in civil matters," he said Friday.
A statement by 1MDB on Friday said it was not a party to the civil lawsuit and it had not been contacted by the Justice Department.
"1MDB notes that the civil lawsuit does not contain any appendices with documentary proof or witness statements to support the allegations made by the DOJ," 1MDB said, adding the company would cooperate fully with any foreign lawful authority subject to international protocols.


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BENARNEWS- A Malaysian judge on Monday acquitted two Malaysian air force officers and an Indonesian national of plotting with an Islamic State fighter and his son to kidnap Prime Minister Najib Razak and other top officials in 2015.
Kuala Lumpur High Court Judge Ab Karim Ab Rahman found Nor Azmi Jalani, 28, Mohd Yusri Mohamed Yusof, 29, and Indonesian Ali Saifuddin, 30, not guilty based on discrepancies in their testimonies and that of main witness Abu Daud Murad, who is serving a 12-year sentence for his role in the plot.
"Abu Daud and the three had admitted to being in a meeting, planning for terrorism acts like kidnapping politicians to exchange for [security act] detainees, stealing firearms and going to Syria to fight. In their sworn statements, the three men admitted attending the meeting but did not plan on committing the offenses," the judge said.
"The statement from key witness Abu Daud does not tally with Ali, Nor Azmi and Mohd Yusri whose statements were consistent with each other. This has raised doubts in the prosecution."
The judge however approved a request they remain detained under Security Offenses (Special Measures) Act (SOSMA) while prosecutors appeal the ruling.
The acquittals were welcomed by family members and by Ali's lawyer, Syahredzan Johan.
"Although [the judge] said the key witness has high credibility, after listening to the trio, their statement was stronger," he told BenarNews.
Syria, Afghanistan, Sulawesi
The three men had been charged with promoting and supporting terrorist activities at a house in Pendang, Kedah, between Jan. 30 and April 5, 2015. Three other men were also arrested in connection with the plot.
Two of them – Abu Daud Murad and his father, Murad Halimmuddin Hassan –pleaded guilty in 2015 and were sent to prison, where the older man died of an illness last year.
The elder Murad, a former Kumpulan Mujahiddin Malaysia (KMM) member, spent about five months fighting in Syria in 2014, and had previously been involved in conflicts in Afghanistan and Sulawesi, according to media reports at the time of his sentencing.
A sixth suspect, Hadharami Hashim, a religious school assistant from Kedah, was freed by the court for lack of evidence.
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A counter-terrorism officer escorts Azudin Mahmud, whose head is covered, to the Kulim Magistrate Court to face a charge of financing terrorism, June 18, 2017. (Fairuz Mazlan/BenarNews)
Terrorism financing charges
The acquittal occurred a day after three men from the same northern state of Kedah were charged with sending money to Malaysian IS members in Syria.
Azudin Mahmud, 54, was charged in Kulim magistrate court with funding former top Malaysian IS recruiter Muhammad Wanndy Mohamed Jedi, who was killed in Syria two months ago.
Azudin allowed 3,500 ringgit (U.S. $818) to be deposited into his bank account under the assumption that some or the entire amount would be used by Wanndy to fund his terror activities, prosecutors charged.
Meanwhile, in Sungai Petani magistrate court, similar charges were filed against Muhammad Hassan Syauqi Omar, 23, and Mohd Shaiful Mohd Jaafar, 31.
Hassan was charged with providing 100 ringgit ($23.37) and 200 ringgit ($46.75) to Muhammad Fuhdail Omar, identified as a Malaysian IS member fighting in Syria. He was also charged with providing 2,000 ringgit ($467) to alleged Malaysian IS member Wan Mohd Aquil Wan Zainal Abidin,
All three fund transfers occurred between April 28 and May 1, 2015, at a house in Sungai Petani, prosecutors alleged.
Mohd Shaiful, meanwhile, provided 890 ringgit ($208) to Hassan on April 12, 2015, for use in a terrorist act, authorities said.
Since 2013, Malaysian authorities have arrested 310 people suspected of having links to IS, of whom 66 have since been freed, according to government figures compiled by BenarNews.
Additionally, 31 Malaysian militants have been killed while fighting for IS in Syria and Iraq, while 56 others are believed to be fighting in those countries, according to Malaysia's top counter-terrorism official Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay.
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Counter-terrorism officers lead Muhammad Hassan Syauqi Omar (front in white) and Mohd Saiful Jaafar after they were charged in Sungai Petani Magistrate's Court, June 18, 2017. (Fairuz Mazlan/BenarNews)


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BENARNEWS- Malaysia's opposition parties are bickering over who should become prime minister if their alliance wins in the upcoming polls – even as they face an uphill task of toppling corruption-tainted Prime Minister Najib Razak's government.
Jailed de-facto opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim sprang a surprise by pulling out as a candidate for the top government post as preparations intensify among political parties for general elections expected later this year.
Analysts said it is crucial for parties in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) opposition alliance to name a single premier candidate instead of squabbling among themselves, ultimately dragging down support for the bloc.
"The choice of PM's candidate is a pertinent factor as the election approaches and if PH does not have a consensus in the matter, the problem will drag on" until the crucial period when electoral seats are decided among parties, geopolitical analyst professor Azmi Hassan told BenarNews.
"This ... would affect the coalition," he said, adding that even fence-sitters would shy away from voting for PH parties, "as they would doubt the capability of the coalition's leaders to lead the country."
The latest indication that divisions are intensifying over the opposition candidate for the top government post came last Saturday when Anwar, who is leader of the People's Justice Party (PKR), said in a statement from prison that he would not offer himself as the prime minister designate for the alliance should PH win the polls.
"With regard to the calls to focus full attention on the general election, therefore, I choose not to offer myself as a prime ministerial candidate," said Anwar, who was convicted and jailed for sodomizing a former aide, a charge he and his supporters said is politically motivated to destroy his career.
"The friction (over who will be prime minister) is exhausting (the opposition), as the final decision lies with the people in the general election," he said.
The PH bloc consists of PKR, the Democratic Action Party (DAP), the National Trust Party (PAN), a splinter from the faith-based Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), and the newly formed Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM), led by former premier Mahathir Mohamad, who has emerged as the loudest critic of Najib.
PAS left the alliance in June 2015 and has since touted itself as acting as a second opposition bloc against the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, which has led the country since independence in 1957.
PKR and DAP want either Anwar or his wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as candidate for prime minister.
PPBM, meanwhile, named former deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin as the candidate although the party's founder Mahathir, who had been prime minister for more than two decades, said he would not mind holding the post if the people insisted. PAN has been keeping mum.
Najib had sacked Muhyiddin as his deputy after Najib was linked to a corruption scandal involving a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund.
Reports have indicated that nearly $700 million from entities linked to the debt-ridden 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) fund ended up in Najib's private bank accounts.
Najib has denied wrongdoing or taking money for personal gain over the 1MDB affair.
Rudderless bloc
Another analyst, professor Hanafiah Harun, called the opposition bloc "rudderless" amid the dispute over the candidacy.
"Pakatan Harapan is not stable, especially with the presence of PPBM and PAN which are clearly adding to the existing problems in the opposition.
"The confusion is clearly seen from the fact that the opposition is yet to decide on the candidate for the PM and deputy PM positions," Hanafiah told BenarNews.
Azmi said Mahathir's PPBM had not made things easier for the opposition.
"PPBM which relies heavily on Mahathir's legacy was supposed to give the opposition an added value, but instead has made the situation murkier.
He said preference should be given to PKR and DAP for winning big in the last elections.
The opposition, led by Anwar, made headway in the last general election in May 2013, winning nearly 52 percent of the popular vote. However, it wrested control of only 89 constituencies out of the 222 parliamentary seats contested.
With Anwar out of the running, some argue that the safest bet to fill the premier's position still lies with Mahathir.
"For prime minister, I believe [Mahathir] is the right candidate," former law minister Zaid Ibrahim said in a blog post on Monday. "I have already given all my reasons for supporting his appointment in the last six months [much to the dismay of many], so I shall say no more on this matter."
'Power crazy'
An official from Najib's United Malays National Organization (UMNO) said the squabble indicates how "power crazy" the opposition is, adding that each party is fighting for its own cause.
The disagreement among opposition parties is also holding up the formal registration of their alliance, the 92-year-old Mahathir said in an interview with a Singapore broadcasting station.
He said he personally does not want to return as prime minister but noted that some people wanted him "for whatever reason."
"If, in the end, nobody comes forward, nobody agrees to any candidate and they point out to me, it'll be churlish of me, just because I want to retire and rest and all that, not to respond to them," he told Channel NewsAsia.
Anwar is expected to be released from prison by the middle of next year but will be banned from politics for at least five years unless he is pardoned by the King.
In January, the Court of Appeal allowed Anwar to pursue a legal challenge to a decision by the Pardons Board dismissing a clemency petition filed by Anwar's family in March 2015.


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BENARNEWS- A top Malaysian militant and ex-university lecturer who reportedly escaped from the besieged southern Philippine city of Marawi is skilled at bomb-making, seamanship and languages and knows secret escape routes, a senior official with Malaysia's counter-terrorist police branch said Thursday.
Suspect Mahmud bin Ahmad, an Islamic State (IS) operative, may have fled by sea to nearby Malaysian Borneo or Sulawesi island in Indonesia along with other militants and Isnilon Hapilon after evading troops that encircled Marawi for more than a month, according to the source. Hapilon is a Filipino recognized as the leader of IS's affiliate in the Philippines.
"They and Isnilon Hapilon know the way in and out better than the Philippine army. There were too many secret sea routes that they could have taken. They have had this planned for a very long time," the official told BenarNews on condition of anonymity.
He said those routes were well known to Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) militants – with which Hapilon is associated – and two brothers who lead the Maute gang that has backed ASG and IS-linked foreigners in occupying parts of Marawi since late May.
Mahmud associated himself with Hapilon because the Filipino had extensive experience and was determined to pursue IS's agenda in Southeast Asia, according to the source. He said Mahmud learned about building bombs and seafaring during his time with Hapilon.
"Besides being a bomb expert and a seaman, Mahmud is also very proficient in the dialects used by the Philippines militants, apart from the other languages he has mastered such as Malay, English and Arabic," the source said.
Mahmud, a former professor of Islamic studies at Malaya University, Malaysia's oldest institution of higher learning, is also among the most skilled militants who could take over from Hapilon in the event of the Filipino's death, the source added.
"He is a smart guy," the official said of Mahmud.
Radicalized intellectual
Early on in his career as a militant, the former professor undertook military training in Afghanistan and studied in Pakistan, where he joined the ranks of al-Qaeda, according to newspaper accounts of Mahmud's life.
More recently, Philippine military officials accused Mahmud, who is in his late 30s, of raising money to finance IS's war effort in Marawi, which is the first city in the Asia-Pacific region to have been occupied Islamic State-linked fighters.
Before he left Malaysia, Mahmud recruited compatriots to join IS's fight in the Middle East, including Ahmad Tarmimi Maliki, the first Malaysian suicide bombers killed in Iraq, according to Rohan Gunaratna, a Singapore-based expert on terrorism in Southeast Asia.
"Together with his closest associate, the late Najib Hussin, Mahmud united disparate Muslim groups to create [the] IS East Asia Division. ... Mahmud planned to develop the eastern Malaysian state of Sabah as a transit point for South Asian and Southeast Asian recruits to train and fight in the Philippines," Gunaratna, who directs the International Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Research, wrote in a column for BenarNews this month.
'He is still alive'
Last week, Philippine officials said they had received reports that Mahmud and Omarkhayam Maute, one of the brothers who leads the Maute gang, possibly were killed in the fighting in Marawi.
Philippine authorities said Mahmud had been seen with Hapilon in a video obtained by the military showing them and other men plotting an IS takeover of Marawi.
On June 25, Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said his department obtained information that both Mahmud and Hapilon were alive.
"Philippine authorities informed us that Isnilon Hapilon is believed to have escaped Marawi, so most probably Dr. Mahmud is with him. We cannot confirm that, but a friend in the Philippines told us that he is still alive," the New Straits Times newspaper quoted Khalid as saying.
When asked about where the two may have fled, the anonymous security source said they could be anywhere, including the eastern Malaysian state of Sabah. It lies across the Sulu Sea from the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, where Marawi is located.
"That includes Sulawesi, an Indonesian island east of Borneo, a route that used to be used by the Jemaah Islamiyah militant group to travel between Sulawesi and southern Philippine islands. Sabah is also one of the possibilities," the source told BenarNews.
On June 22, officials from the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia agreed at a meeting in Manila to closely coordinate their efforts to prevent militant fighters and weapons from spilling across their mutual borders. Last week, the countries also launched joint patrols to safeguard their common seaways between Sabah and Mindanao.
"The scenario of where he had escaped with Hapilon to leave the siege would certainly be used as propaganda to show their strength against the Philippines forces," Azmi Hassan, a professor of geo-politics at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia told BenarNews, referring to Mahmud bin Ahmad.
"What is more worrying is that this escape would raise the spirit of Daesh supporters in the country," he added, using another name for Islamic State.
Hata Wahari in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report.


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BENARNEWS- Malaysian authorities have deported all workers from North Korea and stopped issuing work permits for citizens of the communist nation, a senior government official confirmed to BenarNews on Friday.
The announcement comes months after a diplomatic row between the two countries broke out following the Kuala Lumpur area assassination of the half-brother of North Korea's leader in February, and weeks after many North Koreans left the country.
"I can confirm all North Korean workers have been sent back. In Sarawak, all North Korean workers have been deported. There are no new work permits for North Koreans," the senior official at the Home Ministry, which handles issues involving millions of foreign workers, told BenarNews.
The source who declined to be named, citing the sensitivity of the issue, added that the stop order became "effective two months ago." The official declined to speak further.
At least 140 North Koreans who worked in coal mines and construction industries in the eastern state of Sarawak have been deported in stages, according to an official based there.
"All in Sarawak have left already," the official from the chief minister's office, who requested anonymity, told BenarNews.
Attempts by BenarNews to contact officials at the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur were unsuccessful on Friday.
Killing at airport
Two Southeast Asian women have been charged with fatally poisoning Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half-sibling of the North Korean leader, in a chemical weapon attack at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 on Feb.13.
Indonesian Siti Aisyah and Vietnamese national Doan Thi Hoang were charged in March with Kim's murder along with "four others who are still at large" – a reference to North Korean men who were spotted on surveillance cameras at an airport restaurant with the women moments before the attack on Kim. The men boarded planes and left the country later that day.
The women, who face the death penalty if convicted, said they were duped into believing they were taking part in a reality TV show.
The assassination strained ties between Malaysia and North Korea, with both sides expelling their respective ambassadors and imposing exit bans on each other's citizens, as they argued over the body and suspects holed up in the North Korean Embassy.
Kim's body was returned to North Korea on March 30 at the same time that nine Malaysians, who had been trapped in North Korea because of the exit ban, returned to Kuala Lumpur.
Restaurant closed
Meanwhile, the only North Korean restaurant in the country, Koryo Restaurant in central Kuala Lumpur, also ceased operation in May, according to media reports.
South Korea's Yonhap News Agency said in May that the restaurant was one of 10 around Southeast Asia known as sources of "hard currency for the Kim Jong Un regime."
"The restaurant, the only one that the North has been operating in Malaysia, recently went out of business, and the North seemed to have withdrawn its workers, a source said on condition of anonymity," the report said.
Hata Wahari and Labid Balang in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report.


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BENARNEWS- The Malaysian government has the right to bar any citizen from traveling abroad including government critics, the country's second highest court ruled Wednesday in turning down an opposition member's appeal.
The ruling by Malaysia's Court of Appeal will affect government critics and human rights activists whose travels have been restricted by Malaysian authorities, including international award-winning satirical cartoonist and BenarNews contributor Zunar.
On Wednesday, a three-judge panel unanimously rejected an appeal by Democratic Action Party (DAP) publicity chief Tony Pua, a parliamentarian who was banned from leaving the country to travel to Yogyakarta, Indonesia, in July 2015.
Judge Idrus Harun said the right to travel abroad and the issuance of passports was a privilege accorded by the government at its absolute discretion.
"The provision on the right to travel overseas is not expressly embodied in Article 5 (of the Federal Constitution).
"The appellant has failed to show any merit in his case and we have no reason to interfere in the findings of the High Court," Idrus said, affirming a lower court's decision that went against Pua over his travel ban.
Article 5 touches on the fundamental liberties of a Malaysian citizen.
Judges Mohd Zawawi Salleh and Kamardin Hashim joined Idrus in the ruling.
Under Article 5 and the Immigration Act, Pua had no right to be heard and the Immigration Department director general was not duty bound to explain the reason behind the ban, the court ruled.
Pua, who was allowed to travel in October 2016 after the ban was lifted, had named the director general and the government as respondents.
Gobind Singh Deo, an attorney representing Pua, said he would appeal to the Federal Court, the nation's highest court. He said the travel ban contradicted his client's legitimate right to travel abroad with a valid passport.
Government lawyer Shamsul Bolhassan argued that passports were a privilege, not an absolute right of a Malaysian citizen.
Ruling affects critics
Apart from Zunar, the ruling is expected to impact Maria Chin Abdullah, the chairwoman of the Bersih grassroots movement, which has organized massive street demonstrations calling for transparent government in Malaysia.
Chin was barred from traveling to South Korea in May 2016 to receive a human rights award. She said authorities had assured her in December 2015 that a 2012 ban had been lifted, but she was blocked from leaving Malaysia five months later.
Zunar, whose real name is Zulkiflee Anuar Ulhaque, said freedom of movement was a fundamental right of all citizens as clearly stated under Articles 5, 8 and 9 of the Constitution.
"Fundamental is a hard fact, it is not open to interpretation," he told BenarNews. "It is also stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations. I do not know why judges choose gray when black and white is right in front of them."
Zunar is expected to present his challenge to being banned from leaving the country since June 2016 before a lower court on Sept. 25.
"It will be difficult for me because, in normal practice, the High Court will follow the decision of the Court of Appeal," the winner of the 2016 Cartooning for Peace Award said.
"Nevertheless, I will keep fighting, fighting and fighting to get back my right to freedom of movement."
As of November 2016, more than 700,000 citizens were barred from leaving the country, the New Straits Times reported at the time. Many were detained because of outstanding debt.
Travel bans are politically motivated and the public expects the courts to defend the rights of the citizens or at least demand authorities explain their actions, said Eric Paulsen, executive director of Lawyers for Liberty, a local NGO.
"We are shocked by the decision as it is giving the immigration authorities carte blanche powers to decide as they pleased to ban anyone from traveling without giving any reasons or justification.
"That cannot be right if we are living in a parliamentary democracy with constitutional rights," he told BenarNews.
Another lawyer, Mohamad Haniff Khatri Abdulla, who has been speaking out against Prime Minister Najib Razak's government, urged Pua to appeal to the Federal Court to correct the decision.
"There has been a recent decision of the Federal Court, which says no law can prevent the courts from doing justice and the courts must check and balance the executive arm of the government to ensure the preservation of the rule of law," he told BenarNews.
Malaysian authorities had introduced a policy that bans citizens who discredit or ridicule the government from traveling abroad, according to a local newspaper, drawing criticism from civil liberty advocates.
"Anyone who runs down the government or 'memburukkan kerajaan' ['smears the government'] in any manner will be barred from going abroad," a source in the Immigration Department told The Star in May 2016.
Then-Immigration Director General Sakib Kusmi confirmed the existence of the new policy, saying that owning a passport was "a privilege and not a right."


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BENARNEWS- Malaysia's prime minister has prolonged the appointments of the nation's top two judges, a move that lawmakers, legal experts and others are criticizing as unconstitutional and is aimed, they say, at undermining the judiciary's independence.
Prime Minister Najib Razak's office announced Friday night that the tenures of Malaysian Chief Justice Md Raus Sharif and Court of Appeal President Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin were being extended by three and two years, respectively. Both men were also being appointed as additional judges to the Federal Court – the nation's highest court, according to a statement issued by the office.
"The decisions are in line with the provisions of the current Federal Constitution," the statement said.
It said the appointments and extensions were carried out in accordance with Article 122 of the constitution and that the Malaysian king, acting on the advice of the prime minister and after consulting the Conference of Rulers – a body made up of sultans and governors who represent the 13 states that comprise the Malaysian federation – had approved these moves.
Raus was scheduled to retire on Aug. 3 and Zulkefli on Sept 27, after attaining the age of 66 years and six months, the maximum retirement age for judges who sit on the federal bench. However, an additional judge is not bound by the same age limit.
The move has provoked a backlash from rights advocates, Malaysia's political opposition and legal experts.
"What are the special circumstances for the [Chief Justice and the Court of Appeal President] to be appointed in such controversial manner?" Eric Paulsen, executive director of local NGO Lawyers for Liberty, said in a statement Monday.
"We are indeed shocked and appalled by these appointments which can only be described as a desperate attempt by Prime Minister Najib Razak to further undermine the independence of the judiciary," he added.
Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia's jailed de facto opposition leader, weighed in on the matter in a statement issued from his cell on Monday.
"I've been made to understand that lawyer Shafee Abdullah was involved in providing legal advice and the foundation view to decide on the extensions of Raus and Zulkefli," Anwar said of the lead prosecutor in the case in which Anwar is appealing his conviction in 2014 to a five-year prison term on sodomy charges.
Last month, Anwar filed a lawsuit to overturn his conviction and regain his freedom, claiming that the appointment of Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, a lawyer in private practice, as the public prosecutor in his appeal went against the attorney general's usual practice and was unethical.
Muhammad Shafee on Saturday defended extensions of the tenures of the top two judges, saying nothing in the constitution forbade this.
"Why not utilize the best legal brains for the top job?" Shafee said in a statement on Saturday.
Bar: 'Blatantly unconstitutional'
In a blog posting in May, former Chief Justice Abdul Hamid Mohamad raised concerns about the possibility that Najib could extend the tenure of the current top judge by appointing him as an additional judge. But such a tactic would be unconstitutional, Abdul Hamid argued, because the nation's charter does not allow an additional judge to be picked as head of the judiciary, he said.
"The words 'an additional judge of the Federal Court' can only mean what they say, i.e. an additional judge of the Federal Court to do the work of a Federal Court judge, not to be the Chief Justice, the head of the Judiciary," the ex-chief justice wrote.
Abdul Hamid also advised Md Raus to "put aside his personal interest, rise to the occasion" and decline the appointment.
Malaysian Bar President George Varughese echoed this, calling on both Raus and Zulkefli to turn down their extensions.
"The Malaysian Bar is of the considered view that these appointments are blatantly unconstitutional," Varughese said in a statement issued on Sunday.
Article 122 of the constitution clearly states that the chief justice and any additional judge must be two distinct persons, and not the same person, and that the same principle applies to the president of the Court of Appeal, Varughese added.
'Last bastion of justice'
Meanwhile, the lawyer for former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said the latest judicial appointments were another attempt by the country's leader to curtail the powers of the institution that is the "last bastion of justice."
Mahathir, Najib's bitter foe and former boss, has led calls for the prime minister to resign over corruption allegations linked to a financial mismanagement scandal surrounding state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
The judicial moves were carried out, Mahathir attorney Haniff Khatri Abdulla told BenarNews, "... in order for him [Najib] to remain in power, despite the long outstanding and unresolved mother of all scandals, 1MDB."
Hata Wahari contributed to the report.


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BENARNEWS- A Saudi-backed anti-terrorism center that was to be housed at a state university south of Kuala Lumpur will instead occupy a 40-acre (16-hectare) site in Malaysia's administrative capital, officials have announced.
Announcing the development after a meeting with top Saudi officials at his official residence, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak stressed what he said was a special bilateral relationship with the oil-rich kingdom on the Arabian Peninsula.
"The construction of KSCIP [King Salman Center for International Peace] in Putrajaya reflects the importance of the institution, and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia himself will come to Malaysia to launch the center together with me," Najib said Sunday, according to state news agency Bernama.
"This is because King Salman could have chosen any other country to build the center, but the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques still chose this country."
The building housing Malaysia's third counter-terrorism center will be constructed at a site in Putrajaya, about 24 km (15 miles) from Kuala Lumpur, and the government has a two-year timeline for building it. The center started operating out of temporary quarters in Kuala Lumpur in late May, according to Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein.
The creation of the center was announced on March 1, when King Salman visited Malaysia. As revealed at the time, the plan was to house the new center at the Islamic Science University of Malaysia's (USIM) campus in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan – 45 km (28 miles) from central Kuala Lumpur – according to USIM Vice Chancellor Musa Ahmad.
On Tuesday, Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki, a deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Department who serves as the chairman of the center's committee, visited the Putrajaya site. Officials have not released a price-tag for the project.
"God willing, the construction will be detailed in a special committee meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, next week," he told BenarNews.
Third center
An opposition member, however, questioned the need for a third counter-terrorism center in Malaysia.
Malaysia – whose government has warned its citizens for the past two years about a threat to national security from Islamic State recruitment of local youths and of IS terror plots in the country – already has an online counter-extremist messaging center overseen by the Royal Malaysia Police. It also has the Southeast Asia Regional Center for Counter-Terrorism, operated under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with assistance from the U.S. State Department.
KSCIP will focus on an academic approach to taking on and getting rid of terror organizations, government leaders vowed. The center is a partnership involving the Intellectual Warfare Center the Ministry of Defense in Saudi Arabia, the Security and Defense Center at Malaysia's Ministry of Defense, the Muslim World League and USIM.
Mohamad Imran Abdul Hamid, a former admiral in the Royal Malaysian Navy and now an opposition lawmaker, questioned the prime minister's latest statement about the Saudi-financed center.
"The announcement is an effort to strengthen Najib's political position and to illustrate the close relationship with Saudi Arabia," he told BenarNews. "This announcement is merely to obscure the eyes of Malaysians that he has good relations with Saudi Arabia and other world governments."
Meanwhile, a defense analyst said he could not see the rationale for another anti-terror center in the country.
"The government has set up a strategic digital communication division under the supervision of the Southeast Asia Regional Center for Counter Terrorism and the Counter Messaging Center under the Royal Malaysian Police to handle Islamic State false narratives in social media," analyst Lam Choong Wah said.
"What is the importance of building a security center in Putrajaya?" Lam, a former senior fellow at the Research Institute for Social Advancement, told BenarNews.


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BENARNEWS- Southeast Asian lawmakers Wednesday called on Malaysia to treat undocumented workers fairly and respect their human rights as Kuala Lumpur carried on with an immigration crackdown that has rounded up more than 3,300 foreigners this month, according to government figures.
As of 10 p.m. Wednesday (local time), immigration agents had detained 3,323 workers without proper papers during the first 12 days of the crackdown that began on July 1, Malaysia's Immigration Department said.
The detainees are mostly from other countries in Southeast and South Asia. They include 1,230 Bangladeshis, 825 Indonesians, 273 Myanmar nationals, 119 Vietnamese, 123 Thais and 95 Filipinos, and the rest are from other countries, officials with the department said.
Malaysia launched the crackdown a day after the government's deadline for workers to register with the immigration authorities expired.
The ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) issued a statement expressing concern about the round-up taking place in Malaysia.
"A desire to decrease the number of undocumented workers in the country can never be an excuse to further victimize the vulnerable," Mu Sochua, an APHR board member and member of the Cambodian National Assembly, said in the statement.
The group describes itself as a collective of regional lawmakers made up of current, former and retired parliamentarians from across the 10-nation ASEAN bloc.
"While Malaysia has a legitimate need to address the fact that so many migrants find themselves without proper paperwork, it must ensure that basic human rights are respected for all people at all times," Mu Sochua said.
As thousands of new detainees are sent to be locked up in Malaysia's overcrowded immigration detention centers, the crackdown risks worsening conditions in those facilities that are already dire, APHR said.
"The Malaysian government must provide answers as to how they are addressing this sudden influx of thousands of detainees and how they will ensure that conditions do not deteriorate further," Mu Sochua said.
According to the regional parliamentarians, the government had registered only 161,000 undocumented migrants through its Foreign Worker Temporary E-Card Program. It is an initiative to give an opportunity to all employers, who have hired foreign workers without work permits, to register their employees in an effort to address labor shortages in certain economic sectors.
The deadline for registering all undocumented workers under the program expired on June 30, prompting the crackdown.
Apart from the more than 3,300 detained foreigners, 63 employers allegedly involved in hiring undocumented workers had also been arrested, Mustafar Ali, the director-general of the immigration department, told reporters on Wednesday night.
"Employers should be subjected to the maximum penalty if found guilty of keeping illegal immigrants," Ali said, adding that violators "could face fines, jail time and whipping."
He did not elaborate.
More than 30,000 undocumented workers have been sent back to their home countries since the beginning of this year, Ali said.
Ali debunked concerns about possible overcrowding in the immigration department's 13 jail centers, saying that most detainees had been deported before the government imposed a June 30 deadline for employers to register their workers under the E-Card program. He said the deadline would not be extended.
2 million workers without papers
There are two million legally registered migrant workers and at least two million others who are undocumented in Malaysia, which has a population of about 32 million, according to non-governmental organizations.
Most of the undocumented immigrants work in construction, palm oil plantations, factories and cleaning services, doing physically taxing menial jobs, which locals shy away from and describe as "3D" – dangerous, difficult and dirty.
Malaysia, a federation of 13 states and three federal territories, experienced a surge in the number of low-income workers mainly from Vietnam, Indonesia, Nepal, Myanmar and Bangladesh after its economy posted robust growth in the past few years.
In April, the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights also voiced concerns following local newspaper reports that more than 100 people, mostly from Myanmar, had died in the past two years in Malaysian immigration detention centers.
Although the Malaysian government pledged an investigation into the allegations, little has been done to address the alarmingly poor conditions in the centers since, APHR said.
Malaysia's home ministry said it was trying to improve the conditions but its budget was constrained, according to the South China Morning Post.
"It is important for embassies of countries sending large numbers of workers to Malaysia to demand full access to their detained nationals, as well as accurate figures of the number of their citizens currently being detained," Mu Sochua said.
"Foreign embassies have a responsibility to represent their citizens and to demand answers from the Malaysian government. At the same time, Malaysian authorities should be transparent."
People, 'not commodities'

APHR reiterated the need for regional solutions to address the widespread abuse of migrant workers throughout Southeast Asia.

While abuses are particularly egregious in Malaysia, migrant workers tend to be treated exceedingly poorly throughout the region, according to APHR Board Member Eva Kusuma Sundari, a member of the Indonesian House of Representatives.
"The lack of coordinated action among (Southeast Asian) governments to protect human rights in the context of migration is contributing to this problem and giving free reign to employers, recruitment agents and authorities to abuse migrant workers," Sundari said.
"Governments must remember that migrant workers, whether documented or undocumented, are not commodities, but people who have made enormous contributions to the region's progress," she said.


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BENARNEWS- After holding a memorial service with relatives of people killed in the July 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17), a Malaysian minister said Thursday that he hoped a Dutch court would charge those responsible by year's end.
A five-country Joint Investigation Team (JIT) had questioned more than 200 people and narrowed the list to 100 who could be responsible for shooting down MH17 over the Ukraine on July 17, 2014, Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai told reporters.
"Hopefully by the end of this year or next year, we can get a decision on who we can charge in court," he said.
A family member who attended the memorial service but declined to be identified said mourners were not informed of such details during the session held in the administrative capital of Putrajaya, near Kuala Lumpur.
"We were not given a time frame as to when the investigations will be completed, let alone the prosecutions be done," the relative told BenarNews. "Looks like the information given to you [reporters] differs completely from what was briefed to the families."
He said Thursday's service was only the second time that authorities met with victims' survivors in the three years since the plane went down, killing all 298 passengers and crew, including nearly 200 citizens of the Netherlands. Forty-three Malaysians and 13 Indonesians were aboard the doomed flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
"The only thing I can gather from the briefing is the government seems to be on the right track on the matter, but they couldn't answer me when I asked when there would be closure," he said.
About 90 people attended the memorial service and briefing session, which were closed to the media.
Following the service, Liow told reporters that survivors were briefed on the ongoing investigations and a decision earlier this month by the Joint Investigation Team to try the suspects in the Netherlands instead of an international court because of the number of victims.
"They asked us a lot of questions and we answered what we can," he said, adding that the families had expressed appreciation for the Malaysian government's effort to bring those responsible to justice.
[https://www]
Wreckage from the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 lies near the town of Shaktarsk, Ukraine, July 18, 2014. [AFP]
Families support investigation
The father of Mohd Ali Md Salim, a passenger on the Boeing 777 who was a doctorate student at the University of Rotterdam, spoke to reporters after the service.
"I'm happy with the explanation given by the government and all the family members are hoping justice will be done and we will wait," Md Salim Sarmo said.
Meanwhile, the co-pilot's widow said she was pleased with the investigation's progress.
"I'm really relieved that the phase of information and data collection is finally over and now the investigation is moving to the second phase," Sharifah Asmaa Alwee Aljuned, the widow of Malaysia Airlines First Officer Ahmed Hakimi Hanapi, told BenarNews.
"I'm positive that all the efforts being put in place by JIT would lead to justice."
The JIT's members from Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands, Malaysia and Ukraine have established that the plane was shot down by a Russian-made BUK surface-to-air missile fired by pro-Russian separatists fighting Ukrainian government forces. In September 2016, JIT issued an interim report which concluded that the missile was transported from Russia.
Russian officials proclaimed innocence and blamed the Ukrainian military for the tragedy.
Reacting to the report, Russian officials said radar data proved that no rocket was fired from within territory held by pro-Russian separatists in the Ukraine.
On a conference call with reporters at the time, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian radar had identified all flying objects over the rebel territory.
"The data are clear-cut ... there is no rocket," he said. "If there was a rocket, it could only have been fired from elsewhere."
Fourteen months earlier, Russia used its veto power at the U.N. Security Council to block a resolution aimed at creating an international MH17 tribunal, saying that doing so would be counterproductive.


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BENARNEWS- A Malaysian state's decision to amend its Islamic laws to allow public caning drew a backlash from civil rights groups and lawmakers on Thursday, but a senior government official said it would be applicable only for Muslims in that state.
Lawmakers in Kelantan, which is governed by the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), on Wednesday amended the state's penal code and approved, among other changes, caning in public for punishments required by Sharia courts.
"I have not received details on the tabling of the bill and of the amendments, but I feel what they've done should be seen in the context of this law being only for Muslims in Kelantan," Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told journalists Thursday.
He said the amendments would require the consent of Sultan Muhammad V, the state's 47-year-old constitutional head.
Kelantan, the only one of Malaysia's 13 states and three federal territories ruled by the faith-based PAS, is 436 km (272 miles) northeast of the nation's capital, Kuala Lumpur. About 97 percent of its 1.68 million residents are Muslims and PAS has controlled the state government for 43 years, with an uninterrupted rule since 1990.
PAS-led amendments are testing Malaysia's secular constitution, human rights advocates and leaders of minority groups said in reacting to the news out of Kelantan.
"PAS is setting a very dangerous trend of riding rough over the laws of the land by disregarding the federal Constitution as the supreme law of the land," Ti Lian Ker, the chairman of the religious harmony bureau at the Malaysian Chinese Association, an ethnic Chinese party in the ruling coalition, said in a statement.
Siti Kassim, a leading human rights lawyer, told BenarNews that PAS-led amendments would not stop at state level.
"This is their next big push ... it's now under way," she said, referring to the Islamic faith-based party's push last year to introduce a tough Islamic penal code.
'In accordance with the religion'
Malaysia's constitution provides a unique dual justice system – with criminal cases dealt with under federal law and Islamic courts handling religious issues and family-related cases, such as divorce, custody and adultery.
In predominantly Islamic and religiously conservative Kelantan, where there are no movie theaters, Muslim women are required to cover their entire body when appearing in public – except for the face and hands up to the wrists.
Officials there announced in July 2016 a new statewide regulation that took effect in January and requires female employees at commercial establishments, such as fast-food outlets, supermarkets and stores, to cover themselves in the workplace.
Malaysia, a multiracial country of 32 million people, about 60 percent of whom are Muslims, already practices canings for Sharia matters, but only in prisons, never in public.
"However, with this amendment, the sentencing can be carried out in public or prison depending on the court's decision," the New Straits Times quoted the state's deputy chief minister, Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah, as saying on Wednesday. "This is in accordance with the religion, as in Islam the sentencing must be done in public."
The current Sharia law allows six strokes of the cane for illicit sex, alcohol consumption and sodomy – and three for intent for illicit sex. It is not clear what crimes would lead to public caning, but legal experts said it likely would include adultery and other crimes, depending on the court's decision.
Last year, PAS raised tensions nationwide when it introduced a bill proposing to increase the punishments meted out by Sharia courts throughout the country, allowing judges to impose whipping of 80 to 100 strokes for those found guilty of drinking alcohol and engaging in illicit sex.
Only Muslims are subject to Sharia laws and officials, including Prime Minister Najib Razak, had emphasized that non-Muslims would not be affected by the proposed measure, which is expected to be debated in parliament when it reconvenes later this month.
But the bill angered civil rights groups and lawmakers who expressed fears it would contradict the country's secular Constitution.
Degrading, undignified
Sisters in Islam, a civil movement that promotes women's rights within the religious framework, condemned the latest amendments passed in Kelantan, saying public canings would be tantamount to "degradation of human dignity and stigmatization, rather than rehabilitation."
"The Kelantan State government's decision to enforce public caning in the state is a deplorable form of humiliation and shaming," Sisters in Islam said in a statement.
Former Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin also slammed the amendments, saying Malaysia would now have a new tourist attraction: public caning.
"This would be Malaysia's latest tourism product to be marketed overseas ... to allow non-Muslims especially those from developed countries to witness such ancient and barbaric punishment meted out in a democratic and modern country like Malaysia," he said in a blog post on Thursday.
However, an official from Aceh, the westernmost province in neighboring Indonesia where Sharia law is in force and frequent public canings have taken place near mosques since 2005, supported Kelantan's move.
"The essence of public caning is for the people who are watching it, so that they do not commit acts prohibited by the religion," Teungku Faisal Ali, director of the Acehnese chapter of one of Indonesia's largest and most influential Muslim organizations, Nahdlatul Ulama, told BenarNews.
He said representatives from the Kelantan state government had visited Aceh to witness public canings.
Protests and criticism from civil groups are expected, just as in the case of Aceh when it had started, he said. But commitment from all parties in the province eventually allowed Aceh "to apply punishment promoted by our religion."
Labid Balang in Kuching, Sarawak, and Nurdin Hassan in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, contributed to this report.


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BENARNEWS- Controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik has cancelled his scheduled Saturday appearance at a gathering of Muslim scholars in Malaysia's Kelantan state, according to event organizer the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS).
Tuesday's announcement came hours after India announced that it had revoked the passport of the Indian-born televangelist.
Naik, who was granted citizenship in Saudi Arabia in May, notified organizers on Tuesday that he would not be able to attend the weekend event in the religiously conservative Malaysian state because of "unavoidable reasons," PAS Information Chief Nasharuddin Tantawi confirmed to BenarNews.
Harakah Online, PAS's news portal, reported that the preacher had apologized "for not being able to meet the invitation," and announced a replacement speaker would be announced soon.
The Times of India reported the government moved swiftly to revoke Naik's passport after learning about his planned participation at the Malaysian conference. The revocation would force him to seek special travel documents from Saudi Arabia or from Malaysia, allowing India to apply diplomatic pressure and present a list of cases against him.
Naik, the founder of the Mumbai-based Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), had repeatedly ignored summons issued by India's Enforcement Directorate to appear before a special court hearing allegations against his NGO.  He left India in in June 2016 and has since settled in Saudi Arabia, according to reports.
In November 2016, the Indian government imposed a five-year ban on Naik's research foundation, citing violations under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.
It accused Naik of making inflammatory remarks including praising late al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, supporting suicide attacks and denouncing Hindu gods during sermons delivered through Peace TV, a channel partly funded by the IRF.
Banned in Bangladesh, welcomed in Malaysia
Naik's firebrand sermons are believed to have inspired at least two of the terrorists who killed 20 hostages during an overnight siege at a Dhaka café in July 2016, according to officials in Bangladesh. The government there has since blocked Naik's Peace TV channel.
Naik is no longer welcome in Bangladesh, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told BenarNews.
"His speeches could have encouraged some of the militants. This is a government decision not to let him in Bangladesh," Khan said. "In line with the government decision, the education ministry has shut the Peace schools in Bangladesh and the telecommunication ministry banned Peace TV transmission."
Naik, however, does have fans among Bangladesh's Sunni Muslim majority.
"Unlike the traditional Imams, Zakir Naik sermons contain new explanations of Islam; he relates the Quran with science and everyday life," Ahmedul Kabir, a 55-year-old garment trader, told BenarNews.
"I have been his follower for more than 10 years, and I have never heard him telling that killing of people is justified. So, I do not see any rationale in banning his Peace TV," he added.
Meanwhile, Malaysian authorities had planned to allow Naik to travel to Kelantan to appear at the PAS gathering, the country's police chief told BenarNews on Monday.
Police did not investigate Naik because the government had not received any request from India to detain or prosecute him, Police Inspector-General Khalid Abu Bakar said.
"Zakir Naik could come to Malaysia at any time as he holds Malaysia's permanent resident status," Khalid said prior to India's revocation of Naik's passport. "At present, there is no criminal investigation or involvement in militant activities against him."


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BENARNEWS- An Islamic State (IS) fighter identified by authorities and experts as the leader of Malaysian militants in Syria was killed in an airstrike in Raqqa last month, a senior police official told BenarNews on Thursday.
Muhammad Fudhail Omar, 27, a former non-governmental organization worker, was killed in a strike by Syrian forces, Malaysian anti-terrorism police chief Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said.
"Yes, I can confirm. That's the latest information we have received," Ayob Khan told BenarNews on Thursday.
Ayob did not release details about Fudhail's death, including the date of the airstrike, or how Malaysian police received confirmation.
Fudhail joined IS in October 2014 and had been active on Twitter using the account @fudhailO – but stopped tweeting in August 2016, officials said.
His name appeared in charge sheets against suspected IS members in Malaysia. Those sheets stated the suspects received orders from Fudhail to carry out terror activities, which were not specified.
In May, Inspector General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar linked Fudhail to an attack in Sandakan, Malaysia, when he announced the arrests of two brothers.
"Both suspects were also related to Muhammad Fudhail Omar who once instructed an IS militant in Sabah to lodge a lone-wolf attack in Sandakan on Aug. 4 last year," Khalid said at the time.
That same month, Ayob and Rohan Gunaratna, a Singapore-based expert on Southeast and South Asian extremist groups, told BenarNews that Fudhail was among a group of four militants who could replace top Malaysian IS recruiter Muhammad Wanndy Mohamed Jedi who was killed in a drone attack on April 29 in Syria.
"As Wanndy was highly dedicated and skilled, he will be replaced not by any one person but several others – they include Akel Zainal, Rafi Udin, Abu Zahar, and Mohamed Fudhail and a few others who will follow the same fate as Wanndy," Gunaratna told BenarNews at the time.
"The impact (of Wanndy's death) is much less as it was not only Wanndy who was recruiting," Ayob also told BenarNews. "Akel, Abu Zahar, Rafi Udin and Fudhail were also recruiting, but not as openly and aggressively like Wanndy."
Fudhail, who arrived in Syria on May 2, 2014, was known as Abu Qutaibah among IS fighters, Ayob said then. He joined militant group Ajnad al-Sham with former Malaysian preacher Lotfi Ariffin, a former member of the faith-based Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, but left for IS when Lotfi was killed in September 2014.
Other leaders
Akel Zainal, whose real name is Wan Mohd Aquil Wan Zainal Abidin, 38, became famous in the 1990s as a drummer for a popular Malaysian rock band. More recently, he has been recruiting Malaysians to fight in Syria and has at least 15,000 followers on Facebook, intelligence officials said.
Malaysian Mohd Rafi Udin (alias Abu Awn Al-Malizi), 51, was a taxi driver before appearing in an IS propaganda video in June 2016 alongside an Indonesian and Filipino where they beheaded prisoners.
Abu Zahar (alias Zahar Abdullah), 36, served in the army at a camp in the state of Sabah. He used Facebook to recruit potential IS members among Malaysian troops.
Since 2013, Malaysian authorities have arrested 310 people suspected of having IS links, of whom 66 have since been freed, according to government figures compiled by BenarNews.
A security source who requested anonymity said 32 Malaysian militants have been killed while fighting for IS in Syria and Iraq, while 55 others are believed to be fighting in those countries.


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BENARNEWS- Malaysian authorities barred a prominent Bangladeshi activist from entering the country on Thursday and put him on a flight back to Dhaka after reportedly holding him for hours, in an incident that outraged human rights advocates.
Adilur Rahman Khan, a lawyer and secretary general of the Bangladeshi rights advocacy group Odhikar, was denied entry at Kuala Lumpur International Airport when he disembarked from a Malaysia Airlines flight from Dhaka, according to Malaysian immigration officials. They offered no explanation other than saying he was blacklisted from entering the country.
The incident marked the second case in a month of Malaysian immigration officials barring entry to and turning back a foreign human rights activist, according to the local chapter of Amnesty International.
In a statement issued late Thursday (local time), the Malaysian immigration department said that officials found Khan's name on a list of foreigners banned from entering Malaysia, and he was deported at 8:05 p.m. that evening.
Khan's name "appeared in reference of an enforcement agency," the statement said. "Immigration department consulted the enforcement agency and the subject had been recommended to be denied entry."
Khan "was not arrested but denied entry" and had been "treated well while waiting for the airline to arrange his flight back to Bangladesh," it added.
Khan, a former deputy attorney-general in Bangladesh, was due to speak at a two-day conference organized by the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN) in Malaysia.
He landed back in Dhaka safely before midnight on Thursday (local time), said Odhikar coordinator Sajjad Hossain, who met Khan at the airport. Khan declined to make any statement upon his arrival, Hossain said.
'Embarrassment to Malaysia'
The human rights group Voice of the Malaysian People – better known as Suaram –  condemned Khan's "detention" at the Kuala Lumpur airport and called on the Malaysian government "to stop the persistent harassment against human rights defenders" visiting the country.
Odhikar officials, who requested anonymity, told BenarNews that Malaysian authorities may have seen Khan as a security threat because of his activities as a human-rights lawyer in Bangladesh.
They said Khan, who founded Odhikar in 1994, had carried out extensive fact-finding missions into human rights violations in Bangladesh.
In August 2013, Bangladeshi police arrested him on charges of "fabricating information" about heavy-handed tactics used by government security forces in breaking up a protest carried out in Dhaka by Hefazat-e-Islam, a conservative Muslim group. Khan denied the charges.
After that arrest, Human Rights Watch (HRW) Asia Director Brad Adams said Khan had "been a strong critic of each of the past governments and has been threatened and followed for a long time. We are concerned for his safety. It appears he is being persecuted for his criticism of the current government."
According to other rights groups, Khan and his colleagues have been previously harassed, intimidated and followed closely by Bangladeshi authorities for publicly criticizing alleged police brutality.
Khan, a recipient of human rights awards, has campaigned against torture, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and violence against women and minorities in Bangladesh.
The Malaysian grassroots movement Bersih, which has organized massive street demonstrations calling for transparent government, described Khan's treatment on Thursday "as an embarrassment to Malaysia on the world stage."
"Given his recognized dedication to the promotion of human rights and democracy, such an individual should be welcomed to share his experiences and knowledge, instead of being treated as a threat to national security," Bersih said in a statement.
According to Odhikar's website, the NGO helps monitor and raise awareness about rights abuses in Bangladesh and has trained more than 500 Bangladeshis to become human rights defenders.
A trend
Amnesty International Malaysia (AIM) also criticized Khan's deportation, saying he was the "latest target" of a growing trend to impose travel bans on rights activists entering Malaysia.
"We call for an end to the use of travel bans against human-rights defenders, which further stigmatizes their work, and limits their ties with the global human rights movement," AIM Director K. Shamini Darshni said in a statement.
On June 18, immigration officers barred Singaporean human rights defender Han Hui Hui from entering Malaysia.
She was held for several hours and deported after she was listed as an "undesirable immigrant" by the Malaysian Home Ministry.
Han was to attend a regional youth-exchange program organized by Suaram.
Han had not encountered any problems entering Malaysia in her five previous visits from April 2015 to March this year, officials told BenarNews.
Back in her home country, Han had actively campaigned to promote government transparency and accountability.
Other activists that Malaysia has previously barred from entering include Hong Kong's Joshua Wong, as well as Indonesian human rights defender Mugiyanto Sipin, in May 2015 and January 2016, respectively.
Malaysian authorities had also introduced a policy that bans its citizens who discredit or ridicule the government from traveling abroad, according to a local newspaper, drawing criticism from civil liberty advocates. Maria Chin Abdullah, the chairwoman of Bersih, is among those critics banned from traveling abroad.
"Anyone who runs down the government or smears the government in any manner will be barred from going abroad," a source in the immigration department told The Star newspaper in May 2016.
Former Immigration Director General Sakib Kusmi confirmed the existence of the new policy, saying that owning a passport was "a privilege and not a right."
Malaysia's Court of Appeal, the country's second-highest tribunal, had ruled earlier this month that the government had the right to bar any citizen from traveling abroad.
Hata Wahari in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report.


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BENARNEWS- Bangladeshis and Indonesians topped an updated list of detained undocumented workers as Malaysian authorities announced Wednesday that they had swept up more than 5,000 foreigners in a crackdown on illegal immigration since July 1.
Malaysia launched the nationwide raids a day after the government's deadline for foreign workers to register with immigration authorities expired.
"A total of 17,955 people have been screened and, as a result, 5,065 illegal immigrants from various countries have been arrested," Mustafar Ali, director-general of the immigration department, told reporters.
The arrested immigrants include 1,520 from Bangladesh, 1,476 from Indonesia, 429 from Myanmar, 285 from Vietnam, 206 from Thailand and 261 from the Philippines, Mustafar said.
He said those raids also led to the arrest of 108 employers, while 367 people have been notified to appear in court.
"Strict actions will be taken on employers and undocumented workers caught in this operation," he said.
Many of the detainees have been charged in courts and some have been sentenced to jail for several months, officials said. The arrested employers were charged in courts and allowed to post bail.
Malaysia, whose population is 32 million, has 2 million legally registered foreign workers and a similar number of undocumented immigrants, according to non-governmental organizations.
Those without valid papers mostly work in what locals describe as "3D" – dangerous, difficult and dirty – jobs in construction, plantations and factories.
Southeast Asia's third biggest economy after Indonesia and Thailand, Malaysia became a popular destination for migrant workers after it posted robust economic growth in the past few years.
As the country experienced a surge in illegal immigration, it implemented a law on July 1, 2016, requiring a monthly minimum wage of 1,000 ringgit (U.S. $233) in most cities and about 920 ringgit ($214) in Sabah and Sarawak – for local and foreign workers.
Meeting diplomatic officials
Immigration officials said they had taken steps to inform foreigners about the registration program by meeting with Bangladeshi, Indian, Indonesian and Nepalese embassy officials in recent weeks.
"The initiative taken was to explain efforts being taken, including measures that should be taken by employers and workers after the end of the E-Card (Enforcement Card) registration, including the issuance of travel document and the completion of the rehiring process," Mustafar said.
The rehiring program is a government initiative for former undocumented workers to apply for work permits in order to meet demands in specific sectors.
Mustafar urged employers who had failed to meet the registration deadline to send their workers through the Voluntary Deportation Program to avoid legal action.
"Through this program, illegal immigrants could head back to their country in an orderly manner and in accordance with the law," he said, adding that, since January, about 125,000 illegal immigrants had taken advantage of the program and returned to their home countries.
In response to Malaysia's widespread immigration raids, Southeast Asian lawmakers issued a statement two weeks ago expressing concern about the crackdown and local reports that more than 100 people, mostly from Myanmar, had died in the past two years in Malaysian immigration detention centers.
The lawmakers belonging to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) said little had been done to alleviate the plight of detained immigrants despite Malaysia's pledge to investigate reports of poor living conditions for detainees.


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BENARNEWS- A lawyer for one of two women accused of assassinating the half-brother of North Korea's dictator on Friday questioned a chemist's report about a banned nerve agent allegedly used in the bizarre attack at a Malaysian airport in February.
Attorney Gooi Soon Seng said the defense would seek expert opinion to establish whether the VX agent or another poisonous chemical was used in the killing. During a court hearing Friday in Shah Alam, near Kuala Lumpur, the prosecution turned over 33 documents to the defense, including post-mortem and toxicology reports.
The lawyer representing Indonesian suspect Siti Aisyah spoke to reporters after his client appeared in court. A judge set Oct. 2 as the opening date for the joint murder trial of Siti and Vietnamese suspect Doan Thi Hoang.
"VX is supposed to be a very potent agent and even 0.1 milliliters is enough to kill a person, but we can say there have been no side effects on the two women," he said after both women appeared in court on Friday.
They have been charged with murder for smearing the face of victim Kim Jong Nam with the deadly VX agent at a crowded Kuala Lumpur area airport terminal on Feb.13. While the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un died about 15 minutes later, the two women did not report any injuries from handling the chemical, Malaysian police said.
VX, short for "venomous agent X," is an extremely toxic synthetic chemical compound that causes death with exposure to low quantities by inhalation or absorption through skin, according to the American Chemical Society.
In body armor and Malay attire
The two women appeared about five minutes apart at the Shah Alam High Court, about 27 km (16 miles) west of Kuala Lumpur. They were handcuffed and wore body armor over Malay traditional attire known as "baju kurung," a loose-fitting full-length dress, consisting of a skirt and a blouse.
About 250 police officers, including many in combat gear, guarded the court's compound for Friday's hearing, which lasted 30 minutes.
Doan looked calm during the hearing, but Aisyah cried near the end.
Judge Azmi Ariffin ruled the two defendants would be tried together. He set 11 days of trial in October and 12 days the following month. The women's lawyers said they would enter their plea during the first day of the trial, on Oct. 2.
Prosecutors said 30 to 40 witnesses would be called. The evidence handed over to the defense included CCTV recordings, according to lead prosecutor Muhammad Iskandar Ahmad. Defense attorney Gooi Soon Seng complained last month that he could not mount a proper defense for his client without such key evidence gathered by the prosecution.
Andreano Erwin, Indonesia's acting ambassador to Kuala Lumpur, was at the hearing. He told reporters Aisyah might be feeling the strain after being in police custody for about five months while facing the prospect of waiting another three months for her trial to start.
"Anyone who is in an uncertain situation like Siti would feel such similar pressure," Andreano said, using Aisyah's first name.
Only suspects charged
The women, who face the death penalty if convicted, have said they were duped into thinking that they were taking part in harmless prank for a hidden-camera TV show.
The two are the only suspects to be charged with Kim's murder, although Malaysian authorities identified seven North Koreans as suspects early on in the investigation.
South Korean blames Pyongyang for the killing and Malaysian investigators said they were looking for four North Korean men who flew out of Malaysia on the day Kim died. They were filmed by a security camera at the same airport.
Three other North Koreans who had been sought by police for questioning in the case, including the second secretary of Pyongyang's embassy in Kuala Lumpur, were allowed to return home freely.
They left Malaysia in late March as part of a deal resolving a bilateral diplomatic row over the killing, when Kuala Lumpur agreed to return Kim's body to North Korea in exchange for nine Malaysians who had been prevented from leaving the communist state.
Pyongyang has denied that it was behind the attack, saying South Korea and the United States were mounting a campaign to discredit it.


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BENARNEWS- Satirical cartoonist Zunar, who was arrested last year after the youth wing of Malaysia's ruling party disrupted one of his exhibitions, canceled a similar show in Penang state over the weekend, saying he feared potential threats from the same group.
Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque, a BenarNews contributor whose pen name is Zunar, said he called off Sunday's exhibit in George Town because of fears that young members of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) intended to create another ruckus.
"I'm sad as my freedom as a cartoonist have been interrupted by UMNO who does not support the freedom of an individual, a cartoonist and a citizen who is trying hard to expose the weaknesses in the government," Zunar told BenarNews on Monday.
The prize-winning cartoonist, who is known for skewering government officials in his drawings – especially Prime Minister Najib Razkak – is due to appear in court in November to face nine charges of sedition stemming from messages that he posted on Twitter that criticized his country's judiciary.
Last November, Zunar was arrested after about 30 people, led by the chief of UMNO's youth wing in Penang State, Rafizul Abdul Rahim, disrupted a similar exhibition and demanded that he remove his drawings.
'An act of physical intimidation'
Zunar said he had not decided if he would take legal action over the alleged threats that caused him to cancel his latest show, the "Ketawa Pink Pink" exhibit. Ketawa means "laugh" in Malay.
On Saturday, Zunar alleged that UMNO's youth wing in Penang had distributed posters urging its members to "visit" his show.
"Based on last year's experience, this is not a normal visit, but more of an act of physical intimidation," Zunar said in a statement on Saturday.
Rafizal said the planned visit was intended to see if Zunar was mocking their leaders – not to create a commotion.
"These are just the assumptions and wild accusations of an unethical, biased and rude cartoonist," he said in a statement.
According to Zunar, the pieces that he planned to display focused on the financial scandal around the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) state investment fund, which led to calls for the prime minister to resign over alleged corruption tied to it.
Zunar said he might make his works available through a digital platform for fans to download and distribute freely if he received funding for the initial printing.
His show was also to feature cartoons depicting a related civil lawsuit filed by the U.S. Justice Department, and the controversial purchase of the "pink diamond" – a multi-million-dollar gem that was allegedly bought with money linked to 1MDB, as claimed in an American lawsuit.
In June, the U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit seeking to recover $540 million (2.3 trillion ringgit) in assets purchased with 1MDB money. Officials said U.S. $27.3 million (116 million ringgit) was used to buy a 22-carat pink diamond pendant and necklace for the wife of "Malaysian Official 1."
Last year, the justice department filed another lawsuit to forfeit and recover more than $1 billion (4.2 billion ringgit) in assets associated with what it called a global conspiracy to launder funds stolen from 1MDB. The department did not name Najib in either suit, but Malaysian and U.S. government officials had previously confirmed that the person identified as "Malaysian Official 1" in court documents was the prime minister.
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An eventful year
In the November 2016 incident in George Town, a group who deemed his artwork offensive surrounded Zunar and threatened him to take down his cartoons. Later, the cartoonist was arrested and his artwork was confiscated, but he was released from jail the following day.
Rafizal said the UMNO youth wing did not have problems with Zunar's other cartoons.
"But we have a problem if the cartoon touches and are damning of our leaders," Rafizal said. "That is our intention to go and see his exhibition, we have no intention of making it into a mess."
A poster of the canceled exhibition "Ketawa Pink Pink." (Courtesy of Zunar)
In December 2016, Zunar was arrested while appearing at a charity event, "Tea with Zunar," where police seized more than 1,000 copies of his cartoon books, sketches and T-shirts, which he valued at about 40,000 ringgit ($9,000).
Zunar and four other people were taken to a Kuala Lumpur area police station under Section 124 of the penal code covering activities deemed detrimental to democracy. He was released six hours later.
Zunar is due to appear in court on Nov. 1 to face the sedition charges for allegedly insulting the judiciary in tweets made regarding the conviction of de facto opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim in a sodomy case in February 2015. If convicted on all charges, he could be sentenced to up to 43 years in jail.
The winner of the 2016 Cartooning for Peace Award has been barred from leaving Malaysia since June 2016.


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BENARNEWS- Leaders of four opposition parties met with Malaysian palace officials Wednesday to petition the king to ask the nation's top court to rule on the government's decision to extend the tenures of two top judges.
The main opposition bloc Pakatan Harapan, led by former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, presented a letter of petition, saying the Malaysian king was the only person with discretionary power under Article 130 of the constitution to refer such a decision for court review. Mahathir, who is one of current Prime Minister Najib Razak's harshest critics, said the king extended the tenures after receiving advice from Najib.
"All of us representing the four parties in Pakatan Harapan, through this letter, urge the Yang di-Pertuan Agong [the king] to exercise his discretionary powers and refer the matter to the federal court for a decision on whether the re-appointments are valid," Mahathir told reporters outside the gates of the National Palace in Kuala Lumpur.
Article 130 reads: "the Malaysian King may refer to the Federal Court for its opinion any question as to the effect of any provision of this Constitution which has arisen or appears to him likely to arise, and the Federal Court shall pronounce in open court its opinion on any question so referred to it."
Malaysian lawmakers and legal experts have criticized the prolonged appointments of Chief Justice Md Raus Sharif and Court of Appeal President Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin, calling the changes unconstitutional and saying these undermine the independence of the judiciary.
Mahathir, chairman of the newly formed United Malaysian Indigenous Party [Bersatu], signed the letter along with People's Justice Party [PKR] President Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, National Trust Party [Amanah] Deputy President Mujahid Yusuf Rawa, and Democratic Action Party [DAP] leader Lim Kit Siang.
Age limit on judges
Under the constitution, judgeships cannot to be extended for those who have reached the age of 66 years and 6 months, legal experts said. However, according to the government, those classified as additional judges are constitutionally exempt from this requirement.
Md Raus will reach the mandatory retirement age on Thursday and Zulkefli will reach it on Sept. 27. But both are to stay on the bench as additional judges who are not bound by the same age limit.
Their tenures were extended by three and two years, respectively, with both judges being appointed as additional judges to the Federal Court – the nation's highest court, according to a statement issued by Najib's office on July 7.
"The extension of Chief Justice Md Raus Sharif's tenure comes into force within two days, and if this matter is not addressed immediately, it could very well result in a judicial crisis as all trials or decisions after Aug. 4 will become invalid," Mahathir said.
"It will also cripple the judiciary's administrative system, headed by the chief justice, as it will not be managed by a legitimate judge under the constitution."
The government said the move was done in accordance with the constitution. The Malaysian king, acting on the advice of the prime minister and after consulting the Conference of Rulers who represent the 13 states in the Malaysian federation approved these moves, government officials said.
"The federal constitution does not forbid any additional judges in the federal court from holding other positions," Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of law Azalina Othman said last month. "I am of the opinion that the experience and the expertise of the two judges are much needed by the country's judicial system."
The prime minister's office could not be reached for comment


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BENARNEWS- A U.N. agency said Wednesday it would cooperate with Malaysia over concerns that Islamic State (IS) militants might be mixing in with foreigners and asylum seekers who claim refugee status in the country.
But the Kuala Lumpur office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) stopped short of saying whether it had agreed to share its database of some 150,000 refugees who are registered in the country and carry U.N. refugee cards.
"We are fully committed in our cooperation with the government to find ways that better protect refugees, which, at the same time, address any legitimate concerns about security, law and order," the agency said in a statement.
It said it would work closely with the Ministry of Home Affairs by offering advice and assistance to a contracted company tasked with implementing a program to vet thousands of refugees who hold cards issued by UNHCR.
The local office of UNHCR issued the statement two days after Malaysian Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed expressed concern that IS militants and sympathizers may have obtained the refugee cards that allow them to move freely about the country.
Nur Jazlan told Channel NewsAsia that the ministry had not received "appropriate cooperation from UNHCR" since the government in early April began implementing the Proof of Concept (POC) program, which is designed to help Malaysian authorities track down and stop transnational criminals, human traffickers and terrorists.
"So we want to know whether any IS links have penetrated, their numbers," Nur Jazlan said. "And since the Malaysian public now is very concerned about the presence and high numbers of foreigners, it's time the government identifies and closes all loopholes where they can enter. And the UNHCR route is one of them."
As of June 2017, Malaysia was home to 149,200 refugees and asylum seekers registered with UNHCR, according to figures obtained from the agency's website. About 90 percent were from Myanmar, including 59,100 Rohingya Muslims, Chins and other ethnic groups.
Around 67 percent were men and 37,000 of the refugees were children younger than 18, the agency said. About 16,700 refugees and asylum-seekers came from other countries such as Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Yemen, Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan, it said.
The POC program aims to assess the actual number of UNHCR-registered refugees in the country, by providing biometric data, thumbprints and iris recognition that would be accessible to law-enforcement agencies, including the immigration department, officials said.
"These people apply for refugee and asylum status and are given a card and then they live here in the country," Nur Jazlan told reporters after visiting the program's offices in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.
"This route is very dangerous for the country due to current developments of terrorist activities in the Middle East and now moving to the southern Philippines," he said. "They could use Malaysia to come in."
Nur Jazlan was referring to fighting in Marawi, where government forces have been trying to dislodge IS-backed extremists who seized the southern Philippine city on May 23. They have since engaged security forces in vicious gun battles that, according to official figures, have killed at least 491 militants, 114 soldiers and 45 civilians.
'Baseless' statements
The comments by Nur Jazlan angered rights activists and humanitarian-aid workers.
Sharifah Shakirah, founder and director of the Rohingya Women Development Network, said the deputy home minister should be careful when making statements linking refugees with IS.
"Why do they need a UNHCR [Refugee Card] at first when they could obtain passports to enter Malaysia and freely travel around the world?" Sharifah, a Rohingya refugee, told BenarNews.
Lawyer Nurainie Haziqah, secretary-general of a local humanitarian aid group, said Nur Jazlan's statements about potential IS links to refugees were baseless.
"Instead of working together with UNHCR, instead of working for policies and laws to help the refugees in Malaysia, they choose to make such accusations," she told BenarNews.
Malaysia, which shares a land and maritime border with Thailand and sea borders with Singapore, Vietnam and Indonesia, has about 32 million residents, including almost 1.8 million legally registered foreign workers and about 2 million undocumented immigrants.
Since July 1, more than 5,500 foreigners have been entangled in a massive crackdown on illegal immigration.
In their separate crackdown against suspected IS members and sympathizers, Malaysian authorities have arrested 310 people since 2013. About 66 of those suspects have since been freed, according to government figures compiled by BenarNews.
Hadi Azmi contributed to the report.


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BENARNEWS- A former aide to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has come under formal investigation in France as part of a probe into alleged kickbacks from a controversial sale of submarines in 2002, a report said Wednesday.
Abdul Razak Baginda, who was an adviser to Najib when he served as defense minister between 2000 and 2008, was placed under investigation over the nearly one billion-euro (U.S. $1.18 billion) sale of two Scorpene-class submarines by French state-controlled warship builder DCN International to the Malaysian government, Reuters news agency reported.
It did not say when he was placed under probe but Agence France-Presse (AFP), quoting a judicial source, reported a day earlier that Razak Baginda was charged on July 18 with "active and passive complicity in corruption" and "misappropriation of corporate assets."
On Wednesday, Razak's office in Kuala Lumpur issued a statement expressing regret over what it called "misleading" news reports on the issue and lamenting that "the correct facts of the matter [are] not reported."
Razak "has not been charged in any court of law in France," the statement said.
Reuters said that two French former defense industry executives had also been placed under investigation last month as part of the same probe into alleged kickbacks from the submarine deal.
In France, being put under formal investigation means there is serious or consistent evidence that points to likely involvement of a suspect in a crime. It does not necessarily lead to a trial.
Razak's office said the inquiry by the French "is welcomed" because he "has not committed any crime of corruption or breached any laws in the matter."
A French probe into the sale of the submarines was launched in 2010 after Malaysian human rights group Suaram alleged that the deal had led to some U.S. $130 million in commissions being paid to a company linked to Najib.
The Malaysian government has denied any allegations of corruption concerning the submarine sale.
The submarine sale came under scrutiny in Malaysia following the 2006 murder of Razak's Mongolian mistress Altantuya Shaariibuu, who allegedly had demanded a payoff for working as a language translator in the deal. She was shot dead and her body blown up with powerful explosives near the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.
Razak had been acquitted of charges of abetting the murder, of which two of Najib's bodyguards were found guilty.


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BENARNEWS- Malaysian authorities detained more than 400 people, mostly foreign workers, as part of security preparations ahead of Southeast Asia's biggest sporting event in mid-August, officials said Monday.
The police crackdown on Sunday in the capital Kuala Lumpur netted 409 people, Malaysia's top anti-terror official, Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, told BenarNews.
Of those, 275 were released, 133 were detained on suspicion of immigration violations and one person was held under Malaysia's Security Offenses (Special Measures) Act, Ayob said.
The foreign workers included citizens of Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Indonesia, Myanmar, Oman, Yemen, Uzbekistan, Thailand, Nigeria and Sri Lanka, Ayob said.
The men were taken to police headquarters, where their identities were screened against Interpol's Foreign Terrorist Fighters list and Malaysia's counter-terrorism database, Ayob said.
"The operation today is the first of many that we are going to conduct in conjunction with SEA Games," Ayob said. "The main aim is to weed out the area from any threats, including terror elements."
He said police operations would focus in the Klang Valley and in states where sports events will be hosted, including northern Kedah state and Penang, on the northwest coast.
Malaysian officials are on heightened alert and authorities have carried out preparations to beef up security during the 29th Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games), a multi-sport event involving 11 countries that is scheduled to take place from Aug. 19 to 31.
Last Friday, police launched drills and practiced commando raids in Kuala Lumpur to prepare for the games. Prime Minister Najib Razak and Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi witnessed the practice runs.
"We are not just talking about threats from Daesh, but also any form of threats from any entities that may jeopardize our nation and [the] SEA Games," Police Inspector General Khalid Abu Bakar told reporters in June, using another name for the so-called Islamic State terrorist group.
Hundreds of officers sweep part of nation's capital
During Sunday's six-hour police operation, about 200 counter-terrorism officials raided businesses and homes in Masjid India, a neighbourhood known as Little India of Malaysia and a popular meeting place for foreigners.
Ayob said that since 2013, officials have arrested and deported 40 foreigners on suspicion of links to terror groups.
Anti-terror crackdowns during the past four years have also led to arrests of 310 Malaysians, according to government figures compiled by BenarNews. About 66 of those suspects have since been freed, officials said.
"Terrorism is an ongoing threat and Malaysia is putting all its effort to ensure safety and security of everyone in the country," Ayob said.
During the raids, immigration officers also smashed a syndicate involved in forging residency documents and arrested a Pakistani national, Ayob said
Malaysia has about 32 million residents, including almost 1.8 million legally registered foreign workers and about 2 million undocumented immigrants who work in sectors ranging from agriculture to construction.
Since July 1, more than 5,500 foreigners – mostly Indonesians and Bangladeshis – have been entangled in a massive crackdown on illegal immigration in Malaysia, which has become a magnet for migrant workers from poorer neighboring nations.
On Monday, Southeast Asian lawmakers urged Malaysia stop its crackdown on foreign workers.
"This inhumane action must be halted," Emmi De Jesus, a Philippine lawmaker, told reporters in Kuala Lumpur after a four-day fact-finding visit.
In a statement released earlier, the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights quoted De Jesus as saying that because of the ongoing crackdown in Malaysia, many migrants were living in fear.
"Poor treatment by law enforcement, including indefinite detention in abysmal conditions, are urgent concerns as well," she said.


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BENARNEWS- A Facebook photograph of an atheist gathering has caused an uproar in Malaysia, with one official suggesting that the people pictured should be tracked down to "fix their faith" if they are Muslim.
The Malaysian government has also ordered an investigation following a meeting of the local chapter of the Canada-based nonprofit Atheist Republic in Kuala Lumpur last week, during which the group posted a photo on social media of people smiling, with their arms in the air.
Shahidan Kassim, a senior official in the Prime Minister's Department, on Tuesday called on the public to help locate the group members, so that action could be taken.
"I would like to propose that we go all out to hunt them," he said, without elaborating. "Help us to identify these groups."
"Secondly, we need to bring them back and fix their faith if they are Muslims," he was quoted as saying in a MalaysiaKini report Tuesday.
Shahidan also called on religious groups and muftis to "educate" Muslims who have decided to choose atheism.
Wan Salim Wan Mohd Noor, a mufti from the northern state of Penang, criticized the minister's statement, saying Islamic authorities should have approached the matter more gently.
"I disagree. If one starts to be rude, the reaction would indeed be harsh. When they use such words, people would then misunderstand the word of God," Wan Salim told BenarNews. "They will call Islam a violent and cruel religion."
Other legal experts agreed.
"It is an uncalled-for remark, exaggerated and can alarm the public unnecessarily," Eric Paulsen, executive director of Lawyers for Liberty, told BenarNews.
Belief in God
Malaysia is home to about 19.5 million Muslims who make up more than 60 percent of its population. Buddhists, Hindus and Christians live side by side with Muslims. Religion is considered a sensitive issue in multi-ethnic Malaysia.
On Monday, Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki, deputy minister in charge of Islamic affairs, said he had instructed officials from the government's religious department to investigate the Atheist Republic's local chapter to find out if Muslims participated in the photographed event.
"If it is proven that there are Muslims involved in atheist activities that could affect their faith, the state Islamic religious departments or Jawi could take action," he was quoted by the Malay Mail Online as saying on Sunday. "I have asked for Jawi to look into this grave allegation."
While apostasy is not a federal crime in Malaysia, religious scholars have expressed concerns about deepening fundamentalism within the nation of more than 31 million people.
Malaysia does not allow Muslims to formally renounce Islam and those who have tried have found themselves going through lengthy, unsuccessful court proceedings.
Armin Navabi, founder of Atheist Republic, complained in Facebook posts on Wednesday that members of the group's Malaysian chapter did not harm anyone and do not deserve to be investigated.
The group has more than a million followers, with chapters called "consulates" in every country, including the Philippines, Armin said.
"Targeting atheists will ruin the so-called 'moderate' image, Malaysia thinks it has. Well, not anymore," he said, confirming that several members in Malaysia had been questioned by authorities.
"We are also in search of lawyers in Kuala Lumpur that would be willing to help them out pro bono," he said.
Authorities should provide counseling to atheists, instead of lambasting them on social media, said Zaim Azizi, a religion teacher at a local university.
"From an Islamic point of view, they have gone astray from their belief, but the current law on such issues has not been strong enough," he told BenarNews.
Wan Salim, the mufti, called on Malaysian authorities and Muslim preachers to approach the issue carefully.
"We are learned people. We should preach the religion in a more scholarly fashion," he said. "Islam is a beautiful and simple religion."
Fairuz Mazlan in Penang, Malaysia contributed to this report.


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BENARNEWS- Malaysia has broken ground on its most ambitious railway project to date, a multi-billion dollar endeavor backed mostly by loans from China and that will also be a piece of Beijing's One Belt, One Road grand strategy for economic expansion.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak hailed the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) as a "game changer" for his country, as he broke ground Wednesday on the U.S. $13 billion project in Kuantan, Pahang state, as Chinese State Councilor Wang Yong stood by his side.
But some Malaysian commentators and critics are questioning whether the project – which will also be built by a state-run Chinese firm – will indeed be good for their country. Some among them have raised concerns about whether it's healthy to rely so heavily on the Chinese to construct and finance the railway link, which will stretch 688 km (430 miles) and join the two coasts of Peninsular Malaysia.
"The ECRL is another 'game changer' and a 'mindset changer' because it would shorten travel time from and to the east coast of peninsular Malaysia," Najib said at the groundbreaking ceremony in Kuantan, the capital of his home state, Pahang.
The rail project, spanning the states of Selangor, Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan, is slated for completion in 2024.
An estimated 5.4 million passengers and 54 million tons of cargo will be using the line annually by 2030, making it the primary mode of transport between the east and west coasts, Najib said.
'A fine example of economic cooperation'
The ECRL is one of the flagship projects being planned as part of Beijing's One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative. This trillion-dollar infrastructure strategy strives to build a vast network of roads, railway lines and ports in South and South Asia that will allow China to trade more easily with European countries via the Indian Ocean and Central Asia, Chinese officials said.
The rail project will slash travel time from Port Klang – the nation's busiest port which is located on the west coast – to Kelantan, a state on the northeast coast that borders Thailand, to four hours instead of the current seven-hour average, Malaysian officials said.
The line will consist of 12 passenger-only stations, three freight stations and seven combined passenger-freight stations, according to Najib.
The China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) will build the project, and the Malaysian government will finance 85 percent of the cost via soft loans from the Export-Import (Exim) Bank of China. The remaining 15 percent will be financed through a "sukuk," or Islamic bond program, managed by three local banks, Najib said.
"The project is a fine example of economic cooperation between the two countries and would drive the prosperity of Malaysia," said China's State Councilor, Wang Yong, who headed a Chinese delegation that was on hand at the groundbreaking.
However, some observers have warned that Malaysia's growing relationship with China is not necessarily healthy. Beijing is exerting its influence in Southeast Asia and using smaller countries as part of its ambitions of global expansion, they say.
Among the critics of the policy of closer ties with China is former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, an opposition politician and virulent critic of Najib. Mahathir has lately questioned the wisdom of Malaysia agreeing to borrow large sums of money from China.
"Without actually conquering the countries they have managed to increase their influence over many countries in Southeast Asia, even in South Asia," Mahathir told the news website Free Malaysia Today in late May.
"With the changes in (its) leadership, we see more ambitious leaders coming in and maybe they like to flex their muscles a bit and that is very worrisome," he said.
Wednesday's ceremony in Kuantan also created some controversy on the side when the Straits Times newspaper quoted a senior Malaysian government official as saying that Wang Yong had "lightly touched" on the matter of China offering to sell Malaysia a package of rocket launchers and a radar system that would be deployed in Johor state – right on the border with Singapore.
On Thursday, officials with Malaysia's armed forces said they had received no such offer from China, according to a report by Reuters.
Questions raised
Some of those expressing doubts about the country's largest rail project have raised concerns about the government's accountability over it, by pointing out that no feasibility study or detailed cost-versus-benefit analysis have been discussed in the nation's parliament.
Hours after the groundbreaking ceremony, opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of Hope), vowed to scrutinize the rail project and other rail-related agreements, if it won the next general election, according to The Malaysian Insight news website.
Speaking to BenarNews, Nazari Ismail, a professor of business strategy and policy at Universiti Malaya, argued that railway projects worldwide often rely on rail subsidies from the government.

"Even the Shinkansen in Japan needed government subsidies, so this project is likely to require government subsidies too," he said Thursday, referring to the Japanese bullet train.
"We don't know how much it will cost because the figures are not presented to the Malaysian public for discussion."
Nazari agreed that the project would lead to easier movement of goods, but said the cost would be too high to justify the benefits.
"At the moment the Exim Bank is going to make money based on the loan given and the CCCC, who will build the tracks, are going to make money from the contracts," he said. "If it is really profitable, let the Chinese companies invest in the project and undertake the risk."
But Izzuddin Yussof, an economist at the Affin Hwang Investment Bank, said the Malaysian government could sustain the loan burden from the Chinese bank.
"Exim Bank is only financing 85 percent of the project at 3.25-percent interest rate, which is all right," he told BenarNews.
He agreed, however, that without all the data from the government made public, the effect and feasibility of the project remains unclear.
Environmentalist groups have also expressed concerns about the project, warning that it could damage the Central Forest Spine, a pristine and untouched area that lies between the two coasts. Three groups have demanded a moratorium on the project.
"These environmentally sensitive areas provide vital services to the nation, including protecting 90 percent of the nation's water supply, aiding in local climate control, flood mitigation, as well as protecting vast areas of irreplaceable biodiversity," The Malaysian Nature Society, PEKA and Treat Environment Special (TrEES) said in a statement issued Wednesday.
Fadzil Aziz contributed to this report.


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BENARNEWS- The United States has launched a criminal probe into billions of dollars allegedly stolen from a Malaysian state fund and is asking a court to put aside lawsuits filed over the past year, in order to protect evidence, witnesses and targets of that investigation, court documents show.
The U.S. Department of Justice had filed 29 civil cases since July 2016 in a bid to seize assets purchased via U.S. financial institutions in an alleged attempt to launder money diverted from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a state-owned investment fund.
Now, it is seeking to put those suits on hold, according to a court document filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles and obtained by BenarNews on Friday.
"The United States makes this Motion on the ground that proceeding with the case is likely to have an adverse effect on the ability of the government to conduct a related federal criminal investigation," the document said.
Details of the investigation are likely to become public due to the ability of parties in a lawsuit to request evidence from the other side, it noted.
"Such disclosures could result in the destruction of evidence, flight of potential subjects and targets, or the identification and intimidation of potential witnesses," according to an FBI special agent's declaration included in the court document.
The document, filed Thursday, revealed that U.S. officials had opened a criminal probe into 1MDB before they lodged the 29 related law suits.
"The related criminal investigation is global in scope, because the underlying crimes were committed over several years in numerous jurisdictions," special agent Jill Enyart said.
"A significant amount of the evidence and witnesses with knowledge of these violations are located in foreign jurisdictions, and will take time to pursue."
Debt-laden 1MDB is the target of money-laundering probes in at least a half-dozen countries, and has been tied to corruption allegations surrounding Prime Minister Najib Razak, who founded the fund but has denied any wrong doing.
'This is nothing new': Government official
On Friday, 1MDB officials in Kuala Lumpur did not issue any statements reacting to reports about the American criminal probe. Malaysian Second Finance Minister Johari Abdul Ghani did not immediately respond to requests for comment from BenarNews.
Eric See-To, strategic communications deputy director of Barisan Nasional (National Front), the country's ruling coalition, belittled the reports about a criminal probe.
"This is nothing new as more than a year ago, there were periodic news reports that criminal charges were imminent – but until today, no criminal charges have been filed," he told the news website Free Malaysia Today.
"I also note that the U.S. Justice Department had asked for an indefinite suspension of the civil suit, which is unusual as there is usually a time limit to such requests," he said. "Let the courts and the individuals involved prove whether they are guilty or innocent."
Also responding to the developments Friday, Lim Kit Siang, leader of the opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP), said that "it may not be possible for the Najib government to continue with the national and international charade pretending that the 1MDB scandal does not exist."
'For the personal benefit of various individuals'
In its court motion this week, the Justice Department alleged that between 2009 and 2014, "multiple individuals, including public officials and their associates, conspired to fraudulently divert billions of dollars from 1MDB through various means."
The document described in great detail alleged criminal conduct carried out over five years.
Between 2009 and 2011, under the pretense of investing in a joint venture between 1MDB and PetroSaudi International, a private Saudi mineral extraction company, officials of 1MDB and others arranged for the fraudulent transfer of more than $1 billion from 1MDB to a Swiss bank account held in the name of Good Star Limited, the document said.
"That Good Star account was not owned by PetroSaudi or the joint venture, but by Low Taek Jho (alias Jho Low), a Malaysian who had no formal position with 1MDB, but who was involved in its creation and exercised significant control over its dealings," the document added.
Low allegedly laundered more than $400 million stolen from 1MDB through acquisition of properties in California, New York and London, and a jet plane purchased for $35 million, the papers said.
In 2012, 1MDB officials and others diverted about $1.4 billion through a wire transfer to a Swiss bank belonging to a British Virgin Islands entity called Aabar Investments PJS Limited, the documents alleged. These funds were eventually used "for the personal benefit of various individuals" and to purchase real estate as well as interests in three motion pictures, including "Dumb and Dumber To," it added.
In 2013, several individuals diverted more than $1.26 billion out of a total of $3 billion that 1MDB had raised that year, the court papers said. Those funds were allegedly used to finance, among other things, the Park Lane Hotel in New York for $218 million, a yacht, and artworks by Van Gogh, Claude Monet, and Pablo Picasso.
In 2014, 1MDB borrowed approximately $1.2 billion from a syndicate of banks led by Deutsche Bank in Singapore, of which some $850 million was misappropriated and used to buy millions of dollars worth of fine jewelry, among other assets, the court document said.
"Use of the U.S. financial system was an essential feature of both the fraudulent diversion of 1MDB funds and of the subsequent movement of ill-gotten proceeds around the world," the court document said.
Ray Sherman in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report.


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BENARNEWS- A day after chairs, shoes and lit flares were tossed during a political forum, Malaysian opposition leaders and analysts expressed concern Monday that more violence could tarnish the upcoming general election.
On Sunday, former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad took questions during the "Nothing to Hide 2.0" forum when violence broke out. Prime Minister Najib Razak was invited to the forum but did not attend.
Pandemonium erupted after people hurled slippers and chairs toward the stage. At least two flares were lit and pitched at the audience while fisticuffs broke out between men inside and outside the hall.
Mahathir and opposition leaders were uninjured and escorted out of the building. Two people, including a journalist, were slightly injured.
Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on Monday condemned the violence and called on police to take appropriate action.
"Although we have different opinions, no violence should be committed toward any individual or leader," he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.
Anwar Ibrahim, a leading figure of the opposition People's Justice Party (PKR), warned that political violence could increase.
"Such incidents are feared to rise ahead of the 14th general election," Anwar, who remains in prison after his sodomy conviction, said in a statement on Monday. "The government is responsible to ensure that the rights and freedom of speech must be protected, including that of Mahathir's."
Malaysia's general elections take place every five years but the sitting prime minister announces the date. The next election must take place by June 2018 at the latest.
The forum organized by the United Malaysian Indigenous Party (PPBM) in Selangor state drew about 600 people. It was supposed to be a face-to-face forum between the 92-year-old Mahathir and Najib.
Mahathir, one of Najib's most-vocal critics, is PPBM chairman. He has been leading calls for Najib to resign over a multibillion-dollar scandal involving debt-laden 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a state-owned investment fund. The government has said it found no criminal wrongdoing at 1MDB and Najib has denied embezzlement allegations.
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Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad (center) takes questions at the forum, Aug. 13, 2017. [FadzilAziz/BenarNews]
Three teenagers, ages 17, 18, and 19, were remanded in connection with the incident.
"I confirm that we have granted four days remand for three suspects in the incident," Shah Alam assistant police commissioner Shafien Mamat told BenarNews. Investigations were focused on violations of the Peaceful Assembly Act and laws pertaining to corrosive substances and explosives, along with dangerous weapons.
"That is not the custom of the Malays'
Azmi Hassan, a geopolitical professor at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, warned violence could continue as the current political climate focuses on personalities rather than issues.
"Yes, this unfortunate trend will continue in the future," Hassan told BenarNews. "In fact, it is a sign of immaturity of Malaysians when facing political matters. A debate should be focused on policies and the direction of political parties and not on matters that are not related to the future of a nation."
"Such level of political immaturity should be condemned and stopped," Hassan said.
Mohamed Azmin Ali, PKR's deputy president, said he was appalled by violence at the forum.
"Democracy is about contesting ideas. You may disagree with Mahathir but you don't respond with chairs, slippers and shoes," he said. "That is not the custom of the Malays. If you don't agree, argue back with facts and figures."
Meanwhile, UMNO youth leader Razlan Rafii slammed opposition leaders for blaming Najib's party for the chaos.
"Everything on Sunday, from the venue to the security preparations and the questions, were moderated and taken care of by PPBM members, and therefore, there was no basis for them to blame others," he told BenarNews.
"Just admit the opposition coalition is synonymous with street riots and now political hooliganism," he said.
Fadzil Aziz in Selangor and Hata Wahari and N. Natha in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report.
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An injured journalist is taken for treatment after the violence at Sunday's political forum, Aug. 13, 2017. [FadzilAziz/BenarNews]
An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that the general election must be held by March 2018 at the latest.


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BENARNEWS- Ten U.S. sailors have been reported missing after a warship and a giant oil tanker collided Monday in waters claimed by both Malaysia and Singapore.
The destroyer USS John S. McCain and the Liberian-flagged merchant ship Alnic MC collided in the Singapore Strait east of the Strait of Malacca as the U.S. ship was heading toward Singapore for a port of call.
At least four countries were involved in searching for the missing sailors, in a search area encompassing 100 nautical square miles, CNN cited Malaysian officials as saying.
The incident reportedly took place near Pedra Branca island, in waters claimed by both Malaysia and Singapore.
In 2008, the International Court of Justice ruled that Pedra Branca belonged to Singapore and a nearby territory called Middle Rocks belonged to Malaysia, Reuters news agency reported. Malaysia sought a review of the ruling this year.
Five other U.S. sailors were injured in the collision that damaged the McCain's hull and flooded some of its crew compartments.
"Our thoughts are with the injured and families of the U.S. Navy crew who are currently still missing following the incident in Singapore territorial waters. The Singapore authorities will spare no effort to try to find them, and render all possible assistance to our U.S. friends," Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) chief Andrew Tan said in a statement.
MPA reported four of the injured were flown by a Singapore military helicopter and the fifth was taken by ambulance to Singapore General Hospital.
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Damage is visible as the USS John S. McCain sails toward Changi Naval Base in Singapore, Aug. 21, 2017. (Courtesy U.S. Navy)
Search and rescue
Speaking at a press conference in Putrajaya, Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) director-general Zulkifli Abu Bakar said Malaysia was in charge of the search efforts, but welcomed support from other nations.
"Our officers will be in communication with the Singapore authorities," Zulkifli said. "One thing that is very clear, we do not want to have another collision.
"For the time being, I don't think we should argue about whose waters because I think the most important thing is to focus on the search and rescue effort."
He said navy ship KD Handalan was leading search efforts with two MMEA ships assisting, along with Malaysian aircraft and divers deployed to the scene.
Additionally, fishermen in Pahang and Johor areas had been advised to assist in the search for the missing victims.
Singapore's MPA said it was notified of the collision at about 5:30 a.m. and was leading the search and rescue efforts. It reported the U.S. ship had berthed at Singapore's Changi Naval Base while the tanker was being inspected at Singapore's eastern anchorage.
Singapore Navy and Coast Guard deployed a frigate, four patrol ships and three helicopters along with 250 personnel for search and rescue operations. It also accepted the Indonesia government's offer to aid in the efforts.
"Our two Indonesian ships KRI Cucut and KRI Pari are now at the scene of the accident," Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi told reporters in Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Monday.
"Based on our monitoring so far, it is confirmed that there is no sign of an oil spill, so we are concentrating in looking for the missing persons," she said.
This is the second collision involving a U.S. warship in the region in three months. On June 17, seven sailors died when another destroyer, the USS Fitzgerald, and a container ship collided in the Sea of Japan.


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BENARNEWS- A corruption probe at the listed arm of Malaysia's state-owned Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) and the arrest of a high-profile politician last week have thrown the spotlight on a government agency set up to eradicate poverty among rural Malay farmers.
Today, Felda has blossomed into a mega business enterprise, being the world's biggest producer of crude palm oil by volume through its listed unit, Felda Global Ventures (FGV).
But FGV has been mired in a scandal over questionable foreign and local deals that could haunt Prime Minister Najib Razak and his United Malays National Organization (UMNO) in upcoming polls, some analysts say.
Corruption busters last week held the former boss of Felda and FGV over a probe into FGV's overpriced purchase of a London hotel and a local hotel, highlighting what some groups believe are possible misappropriation of funds and abuse of power.
Isa Samad, a senior member of UMNO who was once suspended by the party for "money politics," was remanded for five days for questioning by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) before being released over the weekend.
Earlier, four other senior executives had been told to go on an indefinite forced leave pending an internal investigation at the beleaguered FGV.
The unwelcome focus on alleged mismanagement in Felda comes ahead of general elections that Najib must call before the middle of next year. He lost the popular vote in the last elections in 2013 but his UMNO-led coalition managed to win enough seats in parliament to maintain power.
Politically linked
Felda's humble beginning in 1956 was the brainchild of Abdul Razak Hussein, Najib's late father and Malaysia's second prime minister. It was set up to distribute farm land to ethnic Malays under a poverty elimination program.
Najib and UMNO have been banking on votes from rural settlers in Felda schemes to maintain power since the country gained independence in 1957.
ANAK, a non-governmental organization which represents the second and third generations of Felda settlers, said Isa's arrest indicated evidence of issues related to misappropriation and abuse of power.
The group said it had raised the issues after Najib decided to retain Isa as chairman for five years until 2016.
"It is a huge mistake," Mazlan Saliman, ANAK's president and a settler, said in a statement.
"ANAK is extremely sad because the time it took [for the situation to be investigated] was too long ...and the resulting [financial] damage was terrible."
The NGO last month called for a royal commission to investigate allegations of wrongdoings within Felda.
Some believe Felda's troubles began after the landmark public listing of FGV in 2012, when shares traded as high as 5.46 ringgit.
Many rural farmers had taken loans to participate in the initial public offering, when the firm raised $3.1 billion in Asia's biggest and the world's second largest IPO after Facebook.
FGV share price has since plummeted and stood at 1.62 ringgit per share as of Tuesday.
Economist Azrul Azwar Tajuddin when contacted said overvaluation of the IPO could be among reasons why FGV share prices may not regain IPO levels for a very long time.
"Other factors, whether perceived or real, such as the management and board of directors capabilities, various corporate governance-related issues and scandals, being one of the most politically linked public companies, among others, may continue to dog share price performance," he told BenarNews.
A force to be reckoned with
Although the general election is not due until mid-2018, politicians and analysts have indicated Najib may dissolve parliament by the end of this year to prevent the newly formed opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan from gaining any foothold in rural areas.
Farmers from Felda make up the majority of voters in 54 out of 222 constituencies in parliament. The three states with the biggest numbers of settlers – Pahang, Johor and Negeri Sembilan – are under the control of Najib's Barisan Nasional coalition.
There are 112,645 registered settlers with Felda nationwide who continue to benefit from subsidized fertilizer and low-interest loans from the government
But the new generations of Felda settlers are close to 2 million, making them a force to be reckoned with in any elections, according to a Felda official who declined to be named.
"A situation close to a real collapse could occur if these rural voters, mostly Felda settlers, can be convinced that the escalating cost of living that they have been grappling with for quite some time now, has a lot to do with everything that has gone awfully wrong with Felda since the FGV listing," Azrul said.
Ibrahim Suffian, Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research executive director, said although the opposition has increased visits to settler communities, its winning chances are limited.
"Despite concerns over the issue, they are more concerned about their daily lives, debts and financial problems they are facing, and the six incentives announced by Prime Minister Najib Razak has given hope that their problems have been resolved, so their support for BN/UMNO will not decline that much," he told BenarNews.
Najib announced special incentives in July for Felda settlers, including, among others, an interest-free home renovation loan valued at 40,000 ringgit each for 70,000 settlers.
"... As long as I hold the position of the Prime Minister, God-willing, I will ensure Felda's progress is improved and the welfare of the settlers are guaranteed," he said in his blog.
Shifts in Support
Invoke, a research outfit run by the opposition People's Justice Party's vice-president Rafizi Ramli, said only seven seats with Felda settlements have seen big shifts in support for the ruling coalition.
At least 46 other seats which had sizeable Felda communities showed a drop in support for the ruling coalition, Rafizi said, citing results of a research project conducted on 200,000 voters including Felda settlers announced in June.
Rafizi said factors that contributed to the declining support were the Felda crisis, the rise in consumer prices and a "national scandal" involving Najib's administration.
Najib has been linked the scandal-ridden state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), which is the subject of money-laundering investigations in at least six countries.
Najib denied taking money from 1MDB after it was reported that investigators traced nearly $700 million to his bank accounts. Authorities cleared him of any wrongdoing, saying the money was a donation from Saudi Arabia.
Hata Wahari in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report.


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BENARNEWS- Islamic State recruitment efforts have slowed in Malaysia since the death of IS militant Muhammad Wanndy Mohamad Jedi four months ago, but authorities remain vigilant, the country's top anti-terror official said Tuesday.
Wanndy, a leading Southeast Asian recruiter for IS, was killed in a drone attack on April 29 in Syria, 10 months after he orchestrated an attack on a nightclub near Kuala Lumpur that injured eight patrons.
"Although the trend seems to have slowed down, it does not necessarily mean that they are not actively recruiting. Maybe they are active, but we are unable to trace their activities," Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, chief of the police counter-terrorist special branch, told reporters in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.
A day earlier, Inspector General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said authorities had arrested several suspected Malaysian and foreign terrorists leading up to the 29th SEA Games hosted by Kuala Lumpur.
Ayob confirmed the arrests on Tuesday.
"It is true, but details will be revealed later," he said.
Heightened alert
Malaysian officials carried out at least four drills and three raids in the weeks leading up to the games, which got under way on Aug. 19 and last through the end of the month. More than 10,000 police personnel are on duty throughout the venues and at landmarks in Kuala Lumpur.
"The police will remain on guard and this is especially during the SEA Games," Ayob added.
Since 2013, Malaysian authorities have arrested 310 people suspected of having IS links, of whom 66 have since been freed, according to government figures compiled by BenarNews.
A security source who requested anonymity said 32 Malaysian militants have been killed while fighting for IS in Syria and Iraq, while 55 others are believed to be fighting in those countries.
Suspected replacements
Malaysian police blamed Wanndy and his recruits for carrying out the first terrorist attack claimed by IS on home soil – a grenade blast that injured eight patrons at a Kuala Lumpur area nightclub in June 2016.
Two men, Wahyudin Karjono and Jonius Indie (alias Jahali), were each sentenced to 25 years in prison for tossing a grenade at the crowd at the Movida nightclub in Puchong, just south of Kuala Lumpur.
Wanndy took to social media to claim credit for the attack.
Government officials took notice of Wanndy two years ago when a video surfaced showing him participating in the execution of a Syrian man captured by IS forces.
He went on to become the most visible Malaysian living in IS's self-proclaimed caliphate in Syria and Iraq. In March, the United States named Wanndy and Indonesian Bahrun Naim global terrorists.
On Tuesday, Ayob named Wan Mohd Aquil Wan Zainal Abidin, alias Akel Zainal, as a likely replacement for Wanndy as the main Malaysian recruiter for IS.
"This is why we will continue our surveillance and collection of intelligence to ensure any attempts to launch an attack could be stopped," he added.
Zainal, 38, became famous in the 1990s as a drummer for a Malaysian rock band. More recently, he has been recruiting Malaysians to fight in Syria, and has at least 15,000 followers on Facebook, intelligence officials said.
Two other Malaysians who have participated in IS recruitment efforts are Mohd Rafi Udin  and Abu Zahar.
Rafi, 51, was a taxi driver before appearing in an IS propaganda video in June 2016 alongside an Indonesian and a Filipino who beheaded prisoners.
Abu Zahar, 36, served in the army at a camp in the state of Sabah. He used Facebook to recruit potential IS members among Malaysian troops.


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BENARNEWS- Divers have recovered the bodies of all 10 American sailors who went missing after their warship and a giant oil tanker collided last week in the Singapore Strait, the U.S. Navy said Monday.
Their bodies were found inside flooded compartments of the USS John S. McCain, the destroyer that was involved in the collision with a Liberian-flagged merchant ship, the Alnic MC, on Aug. 21, Navy officials said in announcing an end to search-and-recovery efforts that involved Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.
"U.S. Navy and Marine Corps divers have now recovered the remains of all 10 USS John S. McCain sailors," the navy's Seventh Fleet said in the statement.
The Seventh Fleet is the largest of the U.S. Navy's forward ­deployed fleets, with about 50 to ­70 ships and submarines, 140 aircraft and about 20,000 sailors, according to the Navy.
At the time of the collision, the McCain was sailing toward Singapore for a port of call. Malaysia and Singapore claim control of the waters where it occurred, and both claimed leadership of search efforts.
Adm. Scott Swift, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, boarded the warship after the collision and met with families of the dead sailors. On Monday, the Navy released a statement posted by Swift on Facebook.
"We will determine the causes of these incidents, we will learn from them and we will apply those lessons. What changes need to be made will be made," Swift wrote.
The Navy suspended search-and-rescue operations Thursday as divers carried on with efforts to recover the bodies inside the ship's flooded compartments. That same day, Malaysian Security Council Director Gen. Zulkifeli Muhammad Zin and U.S. Ambassador Zulhasnan Rafique visited the White House in Washington, where President Donald Trump thanked them for Malaysia's help in the search efforts.
Malaysia deployed Navy ship KD Handalan to lead its search efforts with two Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) ships assisting, along with aircraft and divers. Zulkifli said search crews worked more than 83 hours, covering 2,660 nautical square miles.
"MMEA expresses a great deal of appreciation and gratitude to all the agencies involved in the four-day search and rescue," Zulkifli said in a statement.
This was the second collision involving a U.S. warship in the region in three months. On June 17, seven sailors died when another destroyer, the USS Fitzgerald, and a container ship collided in the Sea of Japan.
Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin was relieved of his duty as commander of Seventh Fleet because of a "loss of confidence in his ability to command," the Navy said.


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BENARNEWS- An increasingly repressive climate for free speech and a lack of transparency and accountability in government will mar the moment as Malaysia celebrates 60 years of nationhood on Thursday, according to rights advocates and local corruption watchdogs.
The multi-ethnic nation of more than 30 million people has grown into one of Southeast Asia's most vibrant economies since Aug. 31, 1957.
But one party, the United Malays National Organization, has dominated local politics throughout the past six decades and tightened its grip as leader of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition by restricting free speech and arresting government critics, observers said.
"Freedom of expression in Malaysia is under extreme scrutiny, siding [with] the interests of the powerful whilst silencing the voices of human rights defenders," K. Shamini Darshni, executive director of Amnesty International's Malaysia branch, told BenarNews.
The atmosphere of repression has deepened since Prime Minister Najib Razak came under a cloud of corruption allegations tied to a financial scandal known as the 1MDB affair, according to rights activists. They say his government has used various laws to lock up people who have raised questions about the allegations connected to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), or have called on Najib to resign over them.
"The Malaysian government has responded to corruption allegations by throwing respect for rights out the window," Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch (HRW), said when it reported earlier this year that the climate for rights in Malaysia had deteriorated "markedly" in 2016 through increased arrests of government critics, expanded restrictions on peaceful assembly and other measures.
"By bringing a slew of prosecutions against those expressing dissenting views or peacefully protesting, the government is seriously undermining democratic institutions and the rights of all Malaysian citizens," he said.
HRW said Najib's government was resorting to laws such as the Sedition Act, the Official Secrets Act (OSA), and the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA) to go after people who had criticized him over the 1MDB affair, where billions of dollars allegedly went missing from the state investment fund he founded in 2009 to spur development in Malaysia.
"As long as the political leadership is corrupt, laws are only selectively applied to a few," Akhbar Satar, president of Malaysia's chapter of Transparency International (TI), told BenarNews.
Law dating to colonial era
The Sedition Act, enacted by British colonial rulers in 1948 to combat communists, was amended by Malaysia following race riots in 1969. The law defines "sedition" broadly and places limits on free speech, particularly over sensitive political issues, according to a report by the Center for Independent Journalism, Malaysia.
In 2015, parliament amended the act again by authorizing the government to impose stricter punishments of up to 20 years in prison for people convicted of seditious speech.
The amendment also allowed state authorities to obtain a court order to censor publications and websites deemed to be inciting hatred among the majority-Muslim nation's various ethnic groups and religious communities.
"The Sedition Act is not just for Muslims; it is for the protection of all Malaysians. It is aimed at preventing any person who promotes feelings of hostility between persons or groups on the grounds of religion – whether the religion attacked is Christianity, Hinduism, Islam or any of the other faiths Malaysia is proud to be home to," Najib said in justifying amendments to the law in April 2015.
"We will not and cannot stand for the incitement of racial or inter-ethnic conflict. We have come too far to harm the progress that we have made. And that is why the government decided to keep the Sedition Act and amend it to make it a better and more suitable law," he added.
At the time, his government was being criticized both at home and abroad for sweeping up scores of opposition politicians, journalists and activists under suspicion of seditious speech.
On the eve of his country's 60th Independence (Merdeka) Day, the prime minister called on his countrymen to unite and support his government as it faced general elections, which are due by June 2018 at the latest.
"In the spirit of independence, now is not the time for us to break ranks," Najib said, according to Channel NewsAsia.
"In the era of this government's administration, there is no greater gift to the people, in the true meaning of independence, than a government that has the ability to deliver on its promises," he added.
'For many more Merdeka celebrations'
The prime minister has been criticized over reports that nearly U.S. $700 million linked to the state investment fund 1MDB were deposited into his private banks accounts during the run-up to the previous general election, in 2013.
He has denied any wrongdoing in the matter, saying that the large sum of cash was a donation from the Saudi government and not used for personal gain.
However, the PM sacked an attorney general who was probing allegations of corruption and financial mismanagement around 1MDB, as well as a deputy prime minister who had publicly criticized Najib about the matter.
Just last week, a high court dismissed an attempt by opposition leader Rafizi Ramli, vice president of the People's Justice Party, to overturn his conviction and 18-month sentence under the Official Secrets Acts for leaking part of a classified auditor's report on 1MDB.
"Over the 45 years the OSA has been in force, we have witnessed how the law has been used as an effective means of ensuring that information on the government is kept secret," said Cynthia Gabriel, executive director of the Malaysian NGO Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4).
She called for greater transparency and accountability in Malaysian government in the coming years, as well as an end to impunity for officials suspected of corruption, saying this was crucial if Malaysia hoped to achieve the status of a developed nation.
As she looked ahead to Independence Day, Darshni, the head of Amnesty's national chapter, said "Malaysia must demonstrate strong political will when it comes to making human rights [gains] and stand for justice and truth for many more generations, for many more Merdeka celebrations in the future."


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BENARNEWS- Malaysians are on an "all-time high" following the 2017 Southeast Asia Games in Kuala Lumpur, despite allegations of judging bias and mediocre management of the region's biggest multi-sports event.
Eleven nations and thousands of athletes turned out for the 29th edition of the SEA Games, from Aug. 19-30, with over 38 events and 406 gold medals up for grabs.
Malaysia, hosting for the sixth time, was crowned Wednesday as overall champion with a whopping 145 gold medals, its best-ever finish in the history of the games.
Two years ago, in Singapore, Malaysia won 62 gold medals and finished fourth.
Malaysia had only topped the regional sporting event once, in 2001, the last time it hosted the games. That year, Malaysia won 111 gold medals, beating the Thais by 8.
This year, Thailand came in second with 72 gold medals, and Vietnam took third with 58 gold medals, followed by Singapore (57), Indonesia (38), Philippines (24), Myanmar (7), Cambodia (3) and Laos (2).
For Malaysia, the games had many sparkling moments, as when the Sultan of Terengganu Mizan Zainal Abidin made history by bagging two gold medals in equestrian endurance.
Closing the games at National Stadium on Wednesday night, on the eve of Malaysia's Independence Day, Prime Minister Najib Razak waxed poetic in looking ahead to the 2019 edition in the Philippines.
"May they display cheerfulness and concord so that the sport's torch may be carried on with even greater eagerness, courage and honour for the good of humanity throughout the ages," he said.
Then he sprang a delicious surprise, declaring Monday (Sept. 4) a public holiday in Malaysia.
Worst games in history?
But sweet victory in Malaysia tasted sour elsewhere, especially the region's sporting powerhouses, Thailand and Indonesia.
Thai athletes, journalists and fans labelled Kuala Lumpur 2017 as the worst SEA games in history, the Bangkok Post reported on Wednesday.
"Emotions are running high among Thai fans and journalists who have vented their anger and frustration by dubbing the Kuala Lumpur Games 'SEA Kong' (SEA Cheating)," the Post report said.
Thai officials argued that events such as women's boxing, where Thailand are serious contenders and past winners, were not contested.
A host nation has the right to tailor the Games to match their sports strengths and many have been done so over the years.
Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha defended Malaysia's haul of gold.
"It is normal that the host country would get more (gold medals) following their preparations. It is the same when we were the host country when we also could manage the types of sport and this time they (Malaysia) had better preparations," Malaysian state news agency Bernama quoted Prayuth as saying.
Indonesia had its own scathing remarks after the Pencak Silat martial arts artistic doubles event, where a Malaysia pair beat the defending Indonesian champions 582-554.
"It has never happened before that judges awarded 582 points in this category. Never mind 582, even to get 570 is extremely difficult," Indonesia team manager Edhy Prabowo was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse.
"They did not even deserve a third place, not even a fourth," he said, adding: "I knew Malaysia would cheat."
But Malaysian officials said no country had lodged an official complaint or protests despite several such judging controversies.
"It is normal for the host to select games that they're good at and have a chance of winning a gold medal," Rudy Irwan, a Malaysian sports fan and avid marathoner, told BenarNews.
Elections around the corner
The medals haul, Rudy said, had put the nation on a high, bringing together Malaysia's multi-racial and politically divided society just before Independence Day, on Aug. 31, and ahead of an upcoming national election.
"There is a feel-good factor and the nation is united at the moment. So maybe, it is the best time for the ruling party to call for elections," he added.
Although the general election is not due until mid-2018, politicians and analysts have indicated that Najib, who has been mired in allegations of corruption and abuse of power, may dissolve parliament by the end of this year.
Malaysia's 14th General Election has been touted as the toughest that Najib's United Malays National Organization party has faced, after winning every election since independence in 1957.
Hairul Rosli, a senior executive at a Malaysia-based multinational conglomerate, agreed that the nation was at an "all-time high" and that the election could be around the corner.
"Anything related to sports will certainly spark up the unity among Malaysians regardless of race, age and gender, especially when we are hosting the event," the football and cycling fan told BenarNews.
Hosting the games lifted hopes for Najib in the next general election, according to Hafidz Rahman, a senior executive of the country's national oil and gas company Petronas.
"Yet again, Najib did really well in his PR campaign, via sports as a nation image-building. But the truth [is], as a country, we are moving backward on core issues such as graft [and] transparency, which have remained unattended, thus affecting our overall growth," Hafidz told BenarNews.
Lackadaisical
Meant to foster regional unity, the 2017 Games fumbled early on when it came to light that the Indonesian flag had been printed upside down in souvenir booklets, prompting several street protests and hacking attacks on Malaysian websites.
The mishap came to light when Indonesia's Youth and Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi tweeted his unhappiness at the opening ceremony, prompting a Twitter apology from his Malaysian counterpart and an official meeting to smooth ruffled feelings.
The games were marked by other problems such as the food poisoning of 16 Malaysian athletes at their hotel, last-minute venue and schedule changes, and food service deficiencies that left ravenous fans queuing for hours at some events.
"This is the first time I've heard so much complaints with regards to the organizing committee. Although we should be proud for hosting the games, but we should be ashamed by our poor liaison during the games," said Hairul, a former journalist.
Rudy accused organizers of having a lackadaisical attitude.
"But these entire shortcomings, I believe, are due to poor quality control measures and not paying attention to details. In Malaysia, we have this attitude, everything would be okay," he said.


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BENARNEWS- Malaysian authorities have arrested eight suspected members of the southern Philippine-based Abu Sayyaf Group militant group in Kuala Lumpur, including a leading Filipino ASG operative, Malaysia's counter-terrorist police chief confirmed.

The suspects, two Philippine nationals and six Malaysians, were picked up by police in the Kuala Lumpur district of Cheras on Wednesday – the eve of national celebrations of Malaysia's 60th Independence Day – according to the Star, a local English-language newspaper that broke the story on Sunday.

But the report did not say what they were arrested for or whether their arrests were connected to any plot or militant activity tied to the celebrations, and Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, the chief of the national police's counter-terrorist declined to go into detail.

"Yes, I confirm [this]. But wait for the official press release," Ayob told BenarNews on Sunday, saying his department was busy preparing for a sending off ceremony on Monday for Police Inspector-General Khalid Abu Bakar, who is retiring. 

The suspects in custody include six Malaysians from the eastern state of Sabah who are of Philippine heritage and two Filipinos, including 25-year-old Hajar Abdul Mubin (alias Abu Asrie). According to the report in the Star, he is an Abu Sayyaf leader who belonged to a kidnap-for-ransom gang, the so-called "Lucky Nine" band affiliated with ASG and based in Jolo and Basilan, in the southern Philippines.

ASG is notorious for abducting civilians from different countries and executing foreign hostages when ransoms are not met. Some of the group's fighters are linked with the extremist organization Islamic State (IS), and have also been involved in occupying the southern Philippine city of Marawi and battling Philippine government forces there for the past three months. 

The report said Abu Asrie had slipped into Malaysia in 2015 after meeting several suspected Malaysian IS militants including Mahmud Ahmad, who allegedly is a conduit for IS funds coming from the Middle East. Mahmud was actively involved in the Marawi siege together with ASG leader Isnilon Hapilon, who is the recognized regional leader of Islamic State. 

"The Malaysians, who are believed to be from Sandakan and working in Kuala Lumpur, were aged between 20 and 52," the report said, quoting an intelligence source.  

The source said some of the suspects were working as security guards and the country's civil voluntary corps, which is better known as RELA.

Duterte moots trilateral task force

News of the arrests in Kuala Lumpur came out the same day that Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said that he planned to hold meetings with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and Indonesian President Joko Widodo to discuss the idea of forming a trilateral joint task force to counter IS-linked militancy in the region, Reuters reported.

"We have agreed that we will talk, the three of us. We are just waiting for the right time," Duterte told reporters on Sunday.

"In all probability, it will be a joint ... task force. And I will open my borders to the Malaysian authorities and Indonesian authorities. They'll be given access," Reuters quoted him as saying.

Spurred on by the IS-linked Marawi siege and fueled by abductions carried out at sea by suspected ASG gunmen, the three neighboring countries in June launched joint security patrols off the southern Philippines and Borneo island to contain the IS extremist threat.

In Malaysia alone, including the arrests of the eight people with alleged ties to ASG, authorities since 2013 have arrested 318 people suspected of having to Islamic State, of whom 66 have since been freed, according to government figures compiled by BenarNews.

N. Natha in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report.

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BENARNEWS- The Sarawak government is studying longstanding demands to expand native land rights in the east Malaysian state, where vast tracts of rainforest have been turned into pulpwood and oil palm plantations.
The move follows last year's controversial court ruling that customary rights of the tribes people of Sarawak, Malaysia's largest state, apply only to their farmland and not to primary forest areas around their traditional longhouses where they forage for food.
Indigenous people, collectively known as Dayak, claim that for generations their communities have held customary rights to the primary forests around their homes.
The Dayaks – who make up about 40 percent of the resource-rich state's 2.7 million people – have filed hundreds of lawsuits against the state alleging that it issued leases and permits to companies on land that belongs to them.
Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Douglas Uggah is expected to come out with a recommendation "soon" to help resolve the controversy over native lands, according to the Borneo Post.
He heads a committee set up after the court ruling to look into the possibility of amending state lands laws to overcome the issue facing the Dayaks.
"Suffice for me to say, they have made good recommendations and were given three weeks to refine it," Uggah told BenarNews earlier this month, referring to his committee members.
He did not elaborate.
'Fabulously wealthy'
Under its 1958 Land Code, Malaysia recognizes native ownership of lands classified as native land before that date, or gazetted as such since that date by state governments.
Sarawak, which joined Malaysia in 1963 upon gaining independence from Britain, acknowledges that indigenous peoples have Native Customary Rights (NCR) to land they farm or cultivate, known in tribal customary law as "termuda."
But indigenous groups in the state on Borneo island argue that they should be considered owners of land needed for communal use ("pulau galau") or used for hunting and foraging ("pemakai menoa").
In December 2016, a Malaysian Federal Court ruled that these native land titles do not have force of law. Another court ruling in March 2017 held that tribal people who resettled in villages decades ago no longer have rights over land they had abandoned.
"The rule-of-thumb used by the state is that if the land is not NCR land, then the land belongs to the state," academic James Chin, of Tasmania University in Australia, wrote in a recent article in New Mandala.
"Timber and plantation barons, often the same person, are quite happy to pay millions" to get permits to use the land – which has made a small number of people "fabulously wealthy," Chin wrote.
"What makes the situation worse is that the NCR claimants are not informed about the lease and only find out when the lease holders show up with their machines," he said.
Legal framework
Only a change in policy will prevent this, Malaysia Human Right Commission (Suhakam) member Francis Johen told BenarNews.
"This is why the land policy needs to be amended to include both of these customs," he said.
Suhakam, he said, had been highlighting this issue for quite some time and it was included as one of the recommendations in the National Inquiry into the Land Rights of Indigenous Peoples conducted in 2010-2012.
"This has become an issue among native communities here and if you look into the native customs, the scope is wider when compared to the provisions in the land code. So native land could not be treated with a blanket understanding," Francis added.
Dayak National Congress president Paul Raja urged the state government to recognize the legal framework for both customary lands.
"Native land disputes can be reduced or completely settled once a legal frame work is recognized," said Paul, who is also a land rights lawyer.
Paul also said some of the land issued with provisional leases by the government to land developers for either timber extraction or plantation purposes, encroaches the boundaries of these disputed native lands.
"This is where problem starts and most of the cases have similar pattern. That is why a legal framework is needed," Paul said.
A deadly business
Sarawak is described by scientists and activists as a global hotspot of forest loss and degradation. Malaysia is the world's second biggest producer of palm oil, after Indonesia.
Satellite images show that approximately 10 percent of Sarawak's primary forests are still intact, according to the Bruno Manser Fonds, a Swiss environmental group.
"Nearly 80 percent of the land surface of Sabah and Sarawak was impacted by previously undocumented, high-impact logging or clearing operations from 1990 to 2009," a group of Australian scientists wrote in a 2013 paper, "Extreme Differences in Forest Degradation in Borneo: Comparing Practices in Sarawak, Sabah and Brunei."
Campaigning for native land rights in Sarawak can be a deadly business. Swiss rainforest campaigner Bruno Manser, who lived with the Penan people of Sarawak for six years and helped them mount road blockades to protest logging in their area, disappeared in Sarawak in 2000 and is presumed dead – his supporters believe, from foul play.
Last year, Sarawak land rights activist Bill Kayong, 43, a Dayak who assisted communities facing land grabs in courts, was shot dead in Miri city as he drove to work. Kayong was also a prominent member of the local branch of the opposition People's Justice Party (PKR).
Three men charged in Kayong's murder, including a man linked to an oil palm company locked in a dispute with a tribal group, were acquitted in June by a judge in Miri who cited lack of evidence. The acquittal is being appealed.
A fourth man, a bouncer who allegedly pulled the trigger, still faces prosecution.
[https://www]
Sarawak Bidayuh villagers from the Padawan Highlands, famed for their brass armbands, work on a mountain paddy field at the break of dawn, June 2016. [Labid Balang/BenarNews]
In an earlier version, the caption for the main photo gave wrong information to describe what was happening in it.


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BENARNEWS- Malaysian authorities said Tuesday that they had foiled a plot to launch a terror attack during the Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur last month by arresting 19 suspected terrorists, including two alleged Islamic State commanders in southern Iraq.
Inspector-General Mohamad Fuzi Harun made the announcement in a news release during his first day as Malaysia's national police chief.
Fuzi said counter-terrorism officers arrested 11 foreigners and eight Malaysians as they raided the hideouts of terror suspects in the states of Selangor, Johor, Kelantan and in the capital Kuala Lumpur from July 4 to Aug. 30.
Eight of the suspects – two Philippine nationals and six Malaysians who are suspected to be members of the southern Philippine-based Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) – were arrested in Kuala Lumpur on Aug. 30.
He said the raids were launched "to thwart a terror plot" to disrupt the games and the country's 60th Independence Day celebration.
Among the arrested suspects was ASG leader Hajar Abdul Mubin, 25, (alias Abu Asrie), Fuzi said, describing him as the plot's mastermind.
Fuzi said Hajar had been involved in previous kidnappings and clashes with soldiers in the southern Philippines before he sneaked into Sandakan town in Malaysia and proceeded to Kuala Lumpur in December 2015.
"Intelligence shows the suspect planned to launch attacks during the SEA Games closing ceremony in National Stadium (Bukit Jalil) and during the National Day celebration," he said.
Eleven nations and thousands of athletes participated in the 29th edition of the SEA Games, from Aug. 19 to 30.
Fuzi's statement did not provide details on the terror plot and did not mention if any weapons or explosives were recovered.
The police chief also said two Iraqi siblings were arrested on Aug. 11 at Gombak, a town in the state of Selangor. Fuzi did not identify the two Iraqis except that they were 41 and 63 years old, and released no details on their alleged terrorist activities.
"Both were working as technicians and were arrested for being suspected commanders of a terrorist organization in southern Iraq," Fuzi said, adding that all suspects were being held under an anti-terror law allowing the government to detain them for up to 28 days without trial.
The raids also led to the arrest of a 25-year-old Bangladeshi temporary teacher at a religious school in the state of Selangor on July 4.
"He is a suspected member of Jamat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh. The suspect who is wanted by Bangladesh police entered Malaysia on Sept. 4, 2016, under the pretext of furthering his studies in a local public university," Fuzi said.
Among the foreigners arrested in separate raids were two Maldives nationals, two Indonesians, a Palestinian and a third Iraqi.
Since 2013, Malaysian authorities have arrested 329 people suspected of having links to the Islamic State, of whom 66 have since been freed, according to government figures compiled by BenarNews.
Meanwhile, the Malaysian Prime Minister's office on Tuesday announced the appointment of former police chief Khalid Abu Bakar as special envoy for combatting terrorism and human trafficking, and chairman of Prasarana Malaysia Berhad, the government-owned public transport operator.


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BENARNEWS- Malaysia's new police chief said Wednesday that the shooting of the former attorney general's driver was not linked to the 1MDB financial scandal, as U.S. authorities filed court documents claiming that international witnesses were afraid to talk to investigators.
Unidentified gunmen on a motorcycle shot the driver of former Malaysian attorney-general (AG) Abdul Gani Patail in the leg as he was about to leave his home in Kuala Lumpur on Aug. 29, police said. The victim was rushed to a hospital where he was reported to be in stable condition, officials said.
According to Police Inspector-General Mohamad Fuzi Harun, the shooting was not connected to Abdul Gani, who was sacked from his post by Prime Minister Najib Razak two years ago. At the time, the attorney general was leading an investigation into allegations that hundreds of millions of dollars of money linked to state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) had been deposited into Najib's bank accounts.
"As far as I know, the shooting has nothing to do with 1MDB," Fuzi told BenarNews.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said that a number of potential witnesses into the alleged embezzling of billions of dollars from the Malaysian state fund had contacted American authorities and expressed fears of possible retaliation.
In documents filed at U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, FBI Special Agent Robert Heuchling urged the court to protect the identity of its informants in the 1MDB investigation.
"A number of individuals, who have provided information to the government have expressed significant concerns relating to their safety or retaliation if the identities of certain witnesses, especially those located in certain foreign countries, were disclosed publicly," Heuchling said.
"These individuals have also expressed concern for their own safety and security if their contact with the United States became known," he said.
Heuchling cited media reports, including about the driver's shooting in Malaysia, as evidence of "the gravity of these safety concerns."
The FBI court filings come ahead of Najib's visit to Washington and meeting with President Donald Trump next week.
American criminal investigation
Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice said it had launched a criminal probe related to 1MDB. It requested a judge to put aside U.S. civil forfeiture lawsuits seeking to recover more than $1 billion in assets in the United States, Switzerland and the United Kingdom that had been purchased with money linked to 1MDB.
"Producing any identifying witness information could result in witness intimidation or jeopardize the safety and security of witnesses – a legitimate concern in this case, given that press reports have publicized potentially retaliatory or threatening acts linked possibly to the 1MDB investigation," Heuchling said.
The FBI agent also cited the arrest of Khairuddin Abu Hassan, an official with the Malaysia's ruling party, the United Malays National Organization, on Sept. 1, 2015, by Malaysian authorities after he announced that he intended to travel to New York to provide information about 1MDB to investigators.
Malaysian officials said Khairuddin was arrested under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 or SOSMA. He was charged on Oct. 12, 2015, with attempting to sabotage the country's banking and financial services.
Heuchling also mentioned reports that Rafizi Ramli, a member of Malaysia's parliament, was arrested on April 8, 2016, "because he was suspected of disclosing information relating to 1MDB."
The justice department had filed 29 civil cases since July 2016 as it targeted assets that were allegedly acquired by Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low; Riza Aziz, a stepson of Prime Minister Najib; and Khadem al Qubaisi, a former managing director of an Abu Dhabi petroleum investment company.
The U.S. investigation is part of efforts in at least a half-dozen countries, including Singapore, Switzerland and Luxembourg, to track the billions of dollars that 1MDB raised for development projects in Malaysia that were allegedly siphoned off and diverted through money laundering.
The debt-laden 1MDB had been tied to corruption allegations surrounding Najib, who until last year was chairman of 1MDB's advisory board.
Najib has denied any wrongdoing.


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BENARNEWS- Malaysian special forces foiled the hijacking of an oil tanker off the east coast state of Terengganu on Thursday by arresting 10 suspected Indonesian pirates on board, the country's maritime enforcement agency said.
The alleged mastermind was arrested at a Malaysian hotel a few hours later while other suspects escaped from the ship on a speedboat, according to reports.
The MT MGT1, a Thai-registered tanker with a crew of 14, went missing Wednesday evening in the South China Sea, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) said following the recovery of the ship on Thursday. A surveillance plane had spotted it near Tenggol Island.
"The special forces team boarded the tanker using a fast roping technique," MMEA Director General Adm. Zulkifli Abu Bakar said in a statement, adding that the 14-member Thai crew and the Malaysian troops were not injured.
Ten suspected pirates, identified as Indonesian nationals, were taken into custody on the tanker, but three others escaped, according to Malaysian officials.
"Several warning shots were fired from the aircraft when the runaway boat attempted to escape," Zulkifli said.
Efforts to stop the speedboat had to be called off because a helicopter chasing it ran low on fuel. Malaysia then deployed the KM Segantang, a fast-interceptor boat, to track down the fleeing suspects.
The tanker was escorted to Kuala Terengganu, where police will investigate the hijacking.
The tanker was carrying 2.2 million liters of diesel fuel valued at 7 million ringgit (U.S. $1.66 million), Malaysian officials said.
The leader of the hijacking crew was captured later on Thursday, the New Straits Times reported.
"Following the arrest of the pirates and their subsequent interrogation, we arrested the mastermind, an Indonesian in his 50s, at a hotel in Johor Baru at noon today," Zulkifli said, according to the report.
Malaysia's efforts drew praise from the director of a regional group combatting piracy.
"The rapid apprehension of the perpetrators and successful rescue of the crew and vessel within hours from reporting is a testament to the effectiveness of timely reporting by the ship and effective enforcement by the relevant authorities," said Masafumi Kuroki, executive director of the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP).
ReCAAP said the attempted hijacking was the second incident involving a tanker carrying an oil cargo in Asia in 2017. Pirates siphoned about 1.5 million gallons of diesel fuel from a Thai tanker traveling from Singapore to southern Thailand on June 23.
Fadzil Aziz in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report.


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BENARNEWS- Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak will meet U.S. President Donald Trump for talks next week amid criticism that the White House would host a tainted leader linked to a multi-million dollar corruption scandal that's being investigated in Washington and half a dozen nations.
The visit would mark the 60th anniversary of U.S.-Malaysia bilateral relations and include discussions on ways "to strengthen and broaden" the ties and expand regional cooperation with one of America's closest partners in Southeast Asia, the White House said ahead of the Sept. 12 meeting.
Najib, meanwhile, has highlighted trade and security as among topics of discussions during his first White House visit since taking office in 2009, saying that the two countries, which are key allies in the fight against terrorism, were eyeing an elusive bilateral trade agreement.
"I hope that the United States will regard Malaysia as a reliable partner in the question of trade, investment, security partnership and combating terrorism," he told the Malaysian media on Friday.
But the run-up to the Najib-Trump talks has been dominated by criticism from groups in Malaysia and the United States against the White House for hosting Najib, whose international standing has been hit by his alleged role in a multi-billion dollar scandal at a state development fund called 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
The U.S. Justice Department is among crime-busting agencies in six countries, including Singapore and Switzerland, probing the scandal at 1MDB from which a total of more than $4.5 billion have been allegedly siphoned off.
Najib is alleged to have received nearly $700 million originating from 1MDB, based on lawsuits filed by the U.S. Justice Department, which said last month that it has launched a criminal probe into the issue.
Last year, it had filed more than two dozen lawsuits in a bid to recover assets allegedly stolen by businessmen associated with 1MDB. Those assets include a diamond necklace for Najib's wife, Rosmah.
The U.S.-based Wall Street Journal in a stinging editorial questioned the White House decision to have a meeting with Najib when he had jailed Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and "is a suspect in a corruption scandal that spans the globe."
It asked the White House to find a "diplomatic excuse" to cancel the visit. "Any embarrassment is better than giving a scandal-tainted leader a White House photo-op," the newspaper said.
Opposition: Publish auditor-general's report
In Malaysia, opposition leaders on Friday urged the government to make public a report by the country's auditor-general on the 1MDB scandal before Najib's departure for the United States.
"Various speculations have been hovering the minds of Malaysians on why this meeting was made, including whether it is an attempt to close the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) case," said Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, the opposition leader in parliament and wife of the jailed Anwar.
"If the report is not published, the meeting ... could be seen as an attempt to 'clean-up' Najib's name," she said in a statement.
An opposition lawmaker has been ordered jailed for 18 months for violating the Official Secrets Act (OSA) by disclosing a page from the auditor-general's report on the 1MDB issue.
U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said Najib's government was resorting to laws such as the OSA and Sedition Act and the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA) to go after people who had criticized him over the 1MDB affair,
Still, Trump may find the meeting fruitful as he could discuss issues critical to the United States, such as North Korea and counterterrorism with Najib, some analysts say.
"Yes, no doubt, North Korea will be on the agenda," said Azmi Hassan, a geopolitical professor at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia amid reports that Trump is courting Southeast Asian leaders to tighten sanctions on Pyongyang over its illicit nuclear weapons program.
Malaysia is among many Southeast Asian nations that maintain economic and diplomatic ties with North Korea.
It downgraded relations with Pyongyang after suspected North Korean spies assassinated Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, at a Kuala Lumpur airport in February.
Hata Wahari in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report.


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BENARNEWS- A U.S. Justice Department probe into a massive corruption scandal in Malaysia implicating Prime Minister Najib Razak should not be linked to talks this week between the Malaysian leader and President Donald Trump, the White House said Monday.
Human rights and other groups criticized the timing of the talks scheduled for Tuesday, especially after the Justice Department said it was moving forward with a criminal investigation into money stolen from the Malaysian state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) founded by Najib.
The Justice Department is among crime-busting agencies in six countries, including Singapore and Switzerland, probing the scandal at 1MDB from which more than $4.5 billion have been allegedly siphoned off. Najib is alleged to have received nearly $700 million originating from the fund.
Questioned Monday about the Trump-Najib meeting amid the corruption probe, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the investigation was apolitical.
"Look, we're not going to comment on an ongoing investigation being led by the Department of Justice, and that investigation is apolitical and certainly independent of anything taking place tomorrow," she told reporters.
She added that Trump looked forward to discussing a wide range of regional and security issues with Najib, including strengthening counterterrorism cooperation, addressing North Korea's nuclear threat and enhancing security in the disputed South China Sea.
"Those are certainly, I think, some of the priorities of tomorrow's meeting, but I'm not going to get ahead much further than that on any conversation that may take place," she said.
Last year, the Justice Department filed more than two dozen lawsuits in a bid to recover assets allegedly stolen by businessmen associated with 1MDB. Those assets include a diamond necklace for Najib's wife, Rosmah.
Najib, who until last year was the chairman of 1MDB's advisory board, has denied any wrongdoing and was cleared by Malaysia's attorney general.
The U.S.-based Wall Street Journal in a stinging editorial last week questioned the White House decision to have the meeting with Najib when he had jailed Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and "is a suspect in a corruption scandal that spans the globe."
Nurul Izzah, the daughter of the jailed Anwar, said the 1MDB scandal "alleges that Najib's government routinely pilfers public funds for its own enrichment and the funding of its political survival."
"Our political leaders are so accustomed to power that they will do anything to keep it," she said in an opinion piece in the Washington Post on Monday.
She accused Najib's own Malay, Muslim-based party of "support of extremist groups that routinely harass and frighten the country's significant Christian, Buddhist and Hindu minorities" and charged that that his government clamped down on the media and detained peaceful political protesters under laws meant to fight terrorism.
Najib said his visit to Washington marked the 60th anniversary of strong U.S.-Malaysia bilateral relations and was aimed at boosting ties even further.
"For if America wishes to find a partner for peace, for prosperity and for security in the coming decades of the 21st century, it will find a staunch and steadfast friend in Malaysia," he said in an opinion piece in The Hill newspaper, which reports on the inner workings of the U.S. congress and the nexus of politics and business, among other subjects.
In a personal blog post, Najib said he would also discuss the humanitarian crisis faced by the Rohingyas in Myanmar, whose government has faced strong international criticism over its crackdown on the Muslim minority.
The latest crackdown began when Rohingya militants ambushed security forces in Rakhine State on Aug. 25.
The United Nations Security Council is scheduled to meet Wednesday to discuss the violence in Myanmar that has sent more than 300,000 Rohingya Muslims fleeing to Bangladesh.


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BENARNEWS- President Donald Trump on Tuesday praised Malaysia for its role in countering terrorism, as he welcomed Prime Minister Najib Razak to the White House amid a U.S. probe into a multi-billion dollar corruption scandal that has implicated the Malaysian leader.
Trump also lauded Najib's government for no longer doing business with North Korea, as he put it, suggesting this was "very important" as Washington engaged in multilateral efforts aimed at stopping Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program.
"The Prime Minister has a major role in not allowing ISIS – or, as you say, Daesh – and others to exist. And he's been very, very strong on terrorism in Malaysia, and a great supporter from that standpoint," the American president said, referring to Islamic State (IS) by other names, as Najib listened. "That's a very important thing to the United States."
Najib, flanked by Foreign Affairs Minister Anifah Aman and other top advisers, emphasized his government's support for Washington's global campaign against terrorism.
"We are committed to fight Daesh, IS, Al-Qaeda, Abu Sayyaf -- you name it," Najib said before the two leaders held bilateral talks that were closed to the media, according to a transcript released by the White House. "They are the enemy of the United States, they are also the enemy of Malaysia, and we will do our part to make sure that our part of the world is safe."
Najib told Trump that his majority-Muslim nation would join the fight against IS through ideological warfare "because you need to win the hearts and minds."
"And the key to it is to support moderate and progressive Muslim regimes and governments around the world, because that is the true face of Islam; that is the authentic face of Islam," he said. "The more you align with progressive and moderate regimes, the better it would be in terms of winning the hearts and minds of the Muslim world."
During the past two years, Malaysia's government has warned its citizens about a threat to national security from Islamic State recruitment of local youths and of IS terror plots on its territory. Malaysia, through its foreign ministry, operates a facility known as the Southeast Asia Regional Center for Counter-Terrorism with assistance from the U.S. State Department.
North Korea
Before heading into their bilateral meeting, Trump noted that Malaysia "does not do business with North Korea any longer, and we find that to be very important."
Najib did not say anything about this, according to the transcript.
Malaysia, however, is among 10 ASEAN countries that maintain diplomatic and commercial ties with North Korea, although relations between Kuala Lumpur and Pyongyang were strained earlier this year following the assassination on Malaysian soil of Kim Jong Nam, the half-brother of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
According to a report published by the Associated Press on Sept. 9 and that cited U.N. experts, Malaysia was among some countries that imported coal from North Korea over a six-month period ending in early August, in violation of United Nations sanctions over Pyongyang's nuclear program.
On Monday, the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to boost sanctions on North Korea after Pyongyang's sixth and largest nuclear test this month. The sanctions, the ninth such resolution adopted against North Korea since 2006, banned textile exports and capped fuel supplies.
As Najib listened, Trump told reporters that he had just discussed the U.N. vote with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
"We had a vote yesterday on sanctions," he said. "We think it's just another very small step – not a big deal. ... I don't know if it has any impact."
"But those sanctions are nothing compared to what ultimately will have to happen," Trump said, without elaborating.
Jet deals
Najib, also talked about his country's contribution "in terms of strengthening the U.S. economy," emphasizing investments and deals worth more than $10 billion, including the acquisition of dozens of Boeing 737 and 787 airliners.
Before departing for Malaysia on Wednesday evening, Najib is expected to witness the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Malaysian Airlines and Boeing, according to the New York Times.
Najib said Malaysian Airlines would acquire eight 787 Dreamliners and more than two dozen 737-MAX 10 jets from Boeing.
"And there is a strong probability – not possibility – probability that we will add 25 more 737 MAX 10 in the near future," he said. "So within five years, the deal will be worth beyond $10 billion."
Najib said he would also persuade low-cost carrier, AirAsia to purchase U.S.-made General Electric engines, and he told Trump about plans by the Employees Provident Fund, a major pension fund in Malaysia, to invest about $7 billion in the United States.
'Not here to ask for money'
Najib arrived at the White House amid criticism against the Trump administration for inviting him there despite a U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) criminal investigation into allegations that more than $4.5 billion was stolen from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) state investment fund. 1MDB was founded by the Malaysian prime minister, who has denied any wrongdoing.
"With his White House invitation, Mr. Trump has neatly gotten Mr. Najib off that hook and provided him with what the regime will portray as a tacit pre-election endorsement," the Washington Post said in an editorial Monday. "If the White House received anything in exchange for that huge political favor, it's not evident."
"Not only is Mr. Najib known for imprisoning peaceful opponents, silencing critical media and reversing Malaysia's progress toward democracy," it said. "He also is a subject of the largest foreign kleptocracy investigation ever launched by the U.S. Justice Department."
The Justice Department alleges that businessmen associated with 1MDB diverted $4.5 billion from the fund including nearly $700 million, which ended up in the prime minister's private bank accounts.
When asked whether the 1MDB issue came up during the meeting between Trump and Najib, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told a press briefing on Tuesday afternoon that she was not aware of the DOJ probe being mentioned in their conversations.
During a dinner event for Malaysian-Americans at the Malaysian Embassy on Monday night, Najib, who faces possible elections next year, signaled the focus of his talks with Trump.
"We are not here to ask for money from the U.S.," Najib said. "We come here as a rising country that is successful and growing and determined to succeed to the ranks of the top 20 nations of the world in 2050."
"I am here to show Malaysia is an important country to the United States," he said. "We bring to the table a great deal of value propositions."


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BENARNEWS- Wrapping up a controversial visit to Washington, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Rajak accused his political opponents of exaggerating the problems of scandal-ridden state fund 1MDB and even of sabotaging it as part of a failed attempt to topple his government.
Najib made the allegations hours after his first visit to the White House, where he and U.S. President Donald Trump discussed a range of bilateral issues including the North Korean nuclear threat, cooperation in counter-terrorism, and the Rohingya refugee crisis in Myanmar and Bangladesh.
"I know that some of the audience will have heard some less positive stories about the Malaysian economy, particularly about 1MDB," Najib said during a speech on Tuesday night to Southeast Asian and U.S. business executives in the American capital.
"[W]hile there were issues, certain opposition politicians in our country blew them out of proportion."
The prime minister was alluding to a multi-billion dollar corruption and financial mismanagement scandal linked to 1Malaysia Development Berhad, which he founded in 2009 as a vehicle for attracting investments and spurring economic growth in his country.
The 1MDB affair has beleaguered Najib since July 2015 and led to calls back home for his resignation, but the issue did not come up during his meeting with Trump, according to the White House press office.
The Trump administration was criticized in Malaysia and the United States for inviting Najib to the White House despite a criminal investigation by the U.S. Justice Department into allegations that businessmen associated with 1MDB had diverted and laundered $4.5 billion from the fund.
Najib has been implicated because nearly $700 million of money linked to 1MDB was deposited into his private banks accounts in 2013. He has denied any criminal wrong doing, saying this money was donated by the Saudi royal family and not used for his personal gain.
"Indeed, there was a campaign to deliberately sabotage the company – and undermine investor confidence in our economy – in a failed attempt to topple the government in-between election cycles," he said, without providing details.
He did not name his political rivals.
While in Washington, Najib and his entourage stayed at the at the ritzy Trump International Hotel, a 263-room hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue that Donald Trump owns through a trust, according to American newspaper reports.
No place for WMDs
Prior to their closed-door meeting at the White House, Najib talked at length about Malaysia's counter-terrorism efforts, and Trump praised the prime minister for playing a "major role" in supporting international efforts to stop IS and other groups from spreading extremism.
On Wednesday, the third and final day of his U.S. visit, Najib acknowledged in a speech to a Washington think-tank that IS had succeeded in carrying out one attack on Malaysian soil – a grenade blast that injured eight people at a nightclub in the Kuala Lumpur area in June 2016.
But, he noted, Malaysian authorities had also thwarted "at least 13 major terrorist attacks" since 2012.
In his remarks to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), he also said that he and Trump had discussed North Korea's recent test of a hydrogen bomb.
The communist state, which has been under U.N. sanctions since 2006 over its missile launches, tested what it claimed was an H-bomb on Sept. 3, just days after it tested a ballistic missile that flew over the Japanese island of Hokkaido.
"President Trump and I discussed this at length yesterday, and Malaysia offers its full support and assistance in resolving the current very dangerous tension over North Korea," Najib told the audience at the CSIS.
"Let me be very clear – there can be no place for the use or proliferation of WMDs," he said, referring to weapons of mass destruction. "Asia must not be held hostage over the prospect of either a WMD or conventional war breaking out in our midst. The stakes are simply too high."
Trump welcomed Najib's commitment to go beyond the U.N. resolutions, including through a review of its diplomatic relations and business links with North Korea, according to a joint statement issued by the White House, which also said the two leaders discussed the need to end the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar.
In addition, the two leaders touched on a flare-up of violence in Myanmar's Rakhine state, which followed attacks by Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) insurgents on Myanmar border police posts last month, the statement said.
The violence has unleased an exodus of at least 380,000 Rohingya Muslims into neighboring Bangladesh, according to the United Nations.
The White House statement said Trump and Najib urged the Myanmar government to end the "violence against innocents" and ensure that humanitarian relief reached the victims immediately.
The Rohingya people "have had their community identity denied for decades" and been forced to flee their homes in Myanmar to flee persecution and brutal attacks, Najib told his CSIS audience, according to a transcript posted on his website.
"Many have said that the atrocities committed against them could be rightly described as constituting ethnic cleansing or genocide." Najib said.
"I believe the world is almost completely united in being appalled by the latest wave of violence – which also has the potential to radicalize desperate young people enraged by their government's treatment of them," Najib said.


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BENARNEWS- Malaysian authorities on Thursday announced the arrests of three suspected Islamic State (IS) militants, including a man linked to two other terrorist organizations, in separate raids last weekend.
Police Inspector-General Mohamad Fuzi Harun said the suspects, all Malaysians, were picked up by counter-terrorism officials in raids in three states between Sept. 8 and 10.
The announcement occurred two days after Prime Minister Najib Razak and U.S. President Donald Trump pledged to strengthen bilateral cooperation to combat growing terrorist threats around the region during Najib's visit to Washington.
"The first suspect, a 21-year-old man, was detained in Bagan Serai, Perak on Sept 8. The unemployed suspect swore allegiance to IS at the beginning of this year. He has also established connections with al-Qaeda and the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG)," Fuzi, Malaysia's new police chief, said in a statement Thursday.
The suspect, Fuzi said, confessed to receiving guidance from Mahmud Ahmad, who allegedly is a conduit for IS funds coming from the Middle East, and a Saudi Arabian bomb expert to produce improvised explosive devices (IED) on a large scale. Police did not release the names of any of the suspects.
Mahmud was actively involved in the siege of Marawi city in the southern Philippines together with ASG commander Isnilon Hapilon, who is the recognized IS regional leader.
"From the teachings, the suspect tried to make the IED bombs three times. He has also received orders from a senior Malaysian IS militant in Syria to buy a pistol, M-16 rifle, AK-47 and a hand grenade from a neighboring country to launch attacks on non-Muslim places of worship," Fuzi said.
"We seized bomb-making chemicals at the suspect's house during the raid," he added.
Two other suspects, a 38-year-old local drink (cendol) seller and a 41-year-old bus driver were arrested in the state of Melaka and Selangor, both on Sept. 10.
"The suspect was active in producing and distributing IS flags to promote the terror groups ideology," Fuzi said of the drink seller. He allegedly planned to join an IS faction in the southern Philippines or a militant group in Rakhine, Myanmar.
The third suspect who was arrested in the town of Petaling Jaya, Selangor, allegedly planned to join IS in Syria by the end of this year.
All three suspects were being held under the Security Offenses (Special Measures) Act 2012, Fuzi's statement said. The act allows police to hold suspects for 28 days without charges.
IS links
Since 2013, Malaysian authorities have arrested 332 people suspected of having links to IS, of whom 66 have since been freed, according to government figures compiled by BenarNews.
IS successfully carried out its first terrorist attack on Malaysian soil – a grenade blast that injured eight patrons at a nightclub near Kuala Lumpur in June 2016.
Earlier this month, Malaysian authorities said they had foiled a plot to launch a terror attack during the Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur by arresting 19 suspected terrorists.
Eight of the suspects – two Philippine nationals and six Malaysians who were ASG members– were arrested in Kuala Lumpur and several states from early July till late August, police said on Sept. 5.
Authorities said the raids were launched "to thwart a terror plot" to disrupt last month's games and the country's 60th Independence Day celebration, on Aug. 31.
US visit
During a visit to the White House on Tuesday, Prime Minister Najib said he talked at length with President Trump about Malaysia's counter-terrorism efforts. In addition, Malaysia had pledged $1 million for humanitarian assistance in areas liberated from IS.
In a joint statement released on Wednesday, Najib's office said the two leaders vowed to strengthen cooperation to counter growing threats of IS in Southeast Asia.
"Both leaders reaffirmed the importance of promoting community resilience and mutual respect across religious and ethnic boundaries," the statement said.
Ray Sherman in Kuala Lumpur contributed to the report.


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BENARNEWS- A fire that ripped through an unlicensed Islamic religious school in Malaysia's capital on Thursday, killing at least 21 children and two teachers, may be treated as a case of arson, officials said.
The Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah School in Kuala Lumpur has been operating for 16 years without an official permit, officials said, as the government said it would set up a task force to look into the safety of similar schools across the predominantly Muslim country.
The bodies of the victims found in the three-storey dormitory of the school located in Datuk Keramat Street had been mostly charred, said fire department officials.
The victims, aged between 10 and 17 years, were trapped behind barred windows and a locked door, officials said. Witnesses told reporters they were woken by cries for help from inside the burning building.
Firefighters said they found the bodies piled on top of each other, indicating that the victims tried to flee but were trapped by metal window grills.
"We are investigating that this blaze could have been caused by mischief," Khirudin Drahman, Kuala Lumpur Fire and Rescue Department director, told reporters. "Our investigation is pointing that it is not from short circuit. If it was, the fire will not be that huge."
He also dismissed early reports that an overturned mosquito coil could have sparked the fire.
Fire investigators, he said, were focusing on the mischief angle after they found two heavy cooking gas cylinders in front of the dormitory's door.
The school, about a 15-minute drive from the iconic Kuala Lumpur Twin Towers and which is classified as a "tahfiz" center where students learn to memorise the Quran, had housed 36 students and six teachers, but did not have fire security permit and occupational certificate, officials said.
It is not immediately clear why the school was not given an operating permit despite being in business for more than a decade.
"The school had submitted the architectural plan," Noh Omar, Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government minister, told reporters.
"However, the department had not given the school permission to use the building," Noh Omar said.
The Star newspaper said there were 519 private tahfiz schools registered nationwide as of April, but many more are believed to be unregistered. More than 200 fires are said to have been recorded nationwide at private religious schools over the last two years.
Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said a committee would be set up to look into the safety aspects of these private religious schools which he said were reluctant to register with the authorities for fear that the government would interfere with their curriculum.
Tahfiz schools are not under the federal government's Education Ministry, but are regulated by religious councils in states where they are located.
"This is not the first time such incidents have happened. Hence, this issue must be addressed," Zahid told reporters, according to the state-owned Bernama news agency. "Regardless if the centre is privately run or not, there will be no compromise as it involves the deaths of many children."
Six students were also critically injured after jumping out of a window on the top-most floor, according to reports.
Kuala Lumpur Police Chief Amar Singh said the bodies of the victims were found on top of each other and authorities believe the fire started at the dormitory's front door, which was the only exit.
"And the absence of hinged grills also caused the victim to be trapped in the fire," he said.
The tragedy attracted the attention of the Malaysian King, Sultan Muhammad V.
"Indeed, at this moment, the country is saddened by the tragedy," the King said in a rare statement released by the controller of the Royal Household.
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Family members gather at the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital morgue while waiting for the release of the bodies of the fire victims, Sept. 14, 2017. [FadzilAziz/BenarNews]
Gruesome images anger people
But the rapid spread of gruesome pictures of the victims and videos that soon flooded social media ignited angry comments from religious figures, politicians and psychologists.
"I plead with all of you not to spread viral videos and pictures of the blaze through social media," Zubaidah Jamil Osman, president of Malaysian Society of Clinical Society, said in a statement. "The (video) clips can be very traumatizing and disturbing for those who are trying to cope with these challenging and difficult times."
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Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, right, talks to reporters at the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital about the school fire that killed 23, Sept. 14, 2017. [FadzilAziz/BenarNews]
UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, said basic safety standards could have prevented the tragic deaths.
"UNICEF calls for the establishment and enforcement of safety procedures and safeguards in all schools across Malaysia to ensure that such an unfortunate incident does not happen again," said Marianne Clark-Hattingh, the UNICEF's Malaysia representative.
Meanwhile, 22-year-old Mas Aliza Ali Bapoo, cousin of three orphans – Muhammad Shafiq Haikal, 13, Muhammad Hafiz Iskandar, 11, and Muhammad Harris Ikhwan, 10 – said she was the closest to the three siblings who had just enrolled into the school 10 months ago.
It appeared that Shafiq, according to Mas, had a premonition of his death as he had recently called her mom telling that "he would be going soon."
"Probably that was a sign they were going to leave us. Forever," she said.
Norhayati Khalid, 42, mother to 11-year-old Amiel Asyraf Abdul Rashid, said she had just met her son hours before the fire.
"I brought him his favourite food, Pataya fried rice and, before I left, he handed me this letter," she told BenarNews, sobbingly at the hospital mortuary.
The letter, handwritten on a school exercise book page, sought forgiveness for any wrongdoing he had done.
Hata Wahari contributed to this report.
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Brothers Muhammad Shafiq Haikal, 13, Muhammad Hafiz Iskandar, 11, and Muhammad Harris Ikhwan, 10, were among those who died in the fire. [Courtesy of relative of the deceased]


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BENARNEWS- Seven boys deliberately set a fire at an Islamic school in Kuala Lumpur that killed 23 people trapped in a third-floor dormitory, Malaysian police said Saturday as they announced their arrests.
The boys aged 11 to 18 live near Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah School and had been involved in a "misunderstanding" with students there, police said.
Six of the suspects tested positive for cannabis and "we believe they were high when committing the crime," Kuala Lumpur Police Chief Amar Singh Ishar Singh told a press conference.
"From the arrests, we believe we have solved the case," he told journalists at Kuala Lumpur police headquarters.
The boys, allegedly caught on CCTV recordings loitering outside the school, were being investigated for murder and "mischief by fire" under the Malaysian penal code, he said.
The school located about a 15-minute drive from the iconic Kuala Lumpur Twin Towers is classified as a "tahfiz" center where students learn to memorize the Quran. It housed 36 students and six teachers but did not have a fire security permit and occupational certificate.
The 23 mostly charred bodies were found in the dormitory situated on the top floor after it burned in the early hours of Thursday.
The victims, students aged between 8 and 16 years, and two school staff, 25 and 26, were trapped behind barred windows and a locked door, officials said. Witnesses told reporters they were woken by cries for help from inside the burning building.
The dead were buried on Friday.
Students who survived the blaze have been placed in an undisclosed temporary shelter, schools headmaster Muhammad Zahid Mahmod told journalists Saturday.
'Taunting'
Firefighters said they found the bodies piled on top of each other, indicating that the victims tried to flee but were trapped by metal window grills.
"From our investigations, we believe it was due to taunting between the suspects and several of the tahfiz students a few days before the fire," Amar said.
"Two of the boys also have police records, for rioting and vehicle theft," he said, adding that the suspects were not from the school but lived in the vicinity.
Amar said police also seized clothes, helmets and a motorcycle from the suspects and hoped to complete the investigations soon and submit results to the Attorney General Chambers.
"They were the ones who brought the two gas cylinders from the ground floor and petrol was used to accelerate the burning. Their intention was to burn down the tahfiz school," he said.
"Probably [due to] their age and maturity, they didn't know their intention for arson would result in killing people," Amar added.
The Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah School has been operating for 16 years without an official permit, officials said, as the government said it would set up a task force to look into the safety of similar schools across the predominantly Muslim country.
On Saturday, a six-man task force set up to probe fire incidents at religious schools inspected the site and left without speaking to the media.
The Star newspaper said there were 519 private tahfiz schools registered nationwide as of April, but many more are believed to be unregistered. More than 200 fires are said to have been recorded nationwide at private religious schools over the last two years.
Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on Thursday said the committee role is to look into the safety aspects of private religious schools which he said were reluctant to register with the authorities for fear that the government would interfere with their curriculum.
Hata Wahari contributed to this report.

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Relatives attend burials of victims of the school fire at Raudhatul Sakinah Muslim burial ground in Kuala Lumpur, Sept 15, 2017. Fadzil Aziz/BenarNews




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BENARNEWS- Malaysian authorities said Thursday they had arrested seven suspected members of the southern Philippines-based Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) who were working as security guards.
The men, between the ages of 22 and 38, were arrested on Sept. 14, Police Inspector-General Mohamad Fuzi Harun said. About two weeks earlier, police arrested two Philippine nationals and six Malaysians whose ASG cell allegedly plotted to launch a terror attack during the closing ceremony of the Southeast Asian Games and Malaysia's National Day celebration in Kuala Lumpur.
The seven new suspects were arrested by counter-terrorism police in the states of Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, Fuzi said in a news release. Police did not name the suspects who were employed by private companies, and provided details about only one of them.
"One of the suspects, a 22-year-old, is an active member of ASG who had participated in previous clashes with Philippine's military and was involved in kidnappings in the Southern Philippines," Fuzi said.
All seven entered the country in September 2015 through Sandakan town, in the eastern state of Sabah, before making their way to Kuala Lumpur. Sandakan is on Sabah's coast and has ferry services to the southern Philippines.
"The Sept. 14 operation was carried out following arrests made on Aug. 30, where an Abu Sayyaf cell had planned to launch attacks during the closing ceremony of the 29th SEA Games in Bukit Jalil, as well as the Independence Day parade at Merdeka Square," the newly appointed police chief said in Thursday's statement.
Among those arrested in August was ASG leader Hajar Abdul Mubin, 25, (alias Abu Asrie), described by officials as the plot's mastermind. Abu Asrie was involved in kidnappings and clashes with soldiers in the southern Philippines before he sneaked into Sandakan and proceeded to Kuala Lumpur in December 2015, around the same time the latest suspects entered the country, according to Fuzi.
In June, Malaysian officials arrested two Indonesians and a Malaysian suspected of planning to leave Malaysia to join Islamic State-linked (IS) fighters including ASG militants battling military forces in the southern Philippine city of Marawi.
Since 2013, Malaysian authorities have arrested 339 people suspected of having links to terrorism organizations including IS. Sixty-six have been freed, according to government figures compiled by BenarNews.
Since the beginning of the year, 41 foreigners classified as "foreign terrorist fighters" have been captured in Malaysia, according to Fuzi.
He vowed that officers would continue to rid Malaysia of terrorists.
"Police will continuously launch operations to flush out terrorist elements that sneak into the country – be it to seek shelter, collect funds, launch attacks or make the country a transit point to plan attacks on another country," he said.
This story was updated to correct the number and the nationalities of the suspects arrested on Aug. 30.


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BENARNEWS- Police on Thursday said militants planned to sabotage Malaysia's biggest beer festival, which was canceled earlier this week after an Islamic party warned about how celebrating the alcoholic beverage could encourage immoral behavior.
Citing security concerns, Malaysia's police chief said his department would not have allowed The Better Beer Festival 2017 to go ahead in Kuala Lumpur next month, even if the city council had granted a permit for the event.
On Monday, the council (DBKL) announced it had denied an application from the organizers to stage the event on Oct. 6 and 7, but without explaining why.
"There is information which revealed that militant groups were planning to sabotage the festival as they regard the event as contrary to their struggle," Police Inspector-General Mohamad Fuzi Harun said in a statement.
Police had also obtained intelligence that "some parties" planned to disrupt the beer fest and this could "lead to a security situation," Fuzi added. He did not name any militant groups or other parties that could cause havoc at the event.
On Monday, festival organizers announced the annual event's cancellation for the first time since the beer fest began five years ago. Organizers were anticipating that about 6,000 people would gather for the two-day event featuring 250 beers from at least 43 breweries around the globe.
"At our meeting with the officials at the Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur [the city council], were instructed to cancel our event as there are issues with the licensing," MyBeer, the festival's organizer, said in a statement.
"We were further informed that the decision was made due to the political sensitivity surrounding the event," it added.
Multi-religious and multi-ethnic Malaysia is home to about 19.5 million Muslims, who make up more than 60 percent of its population. Buddhists, Hindus and Christians make up the rest, but religion and race are sensitive issues in the country.
Promoting sinful behavior
A controversy around the beer fest arose among Malaysian Muslim groups earlier this month, when a senior official with the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), Riduan Mohd Nor, described the festival as a "vice party" that would encourage consumption of alcohol – which is outlawed for Muslims in the country – and sex.
"The festival would turn Kuala Lumpur into the largest vice center in Asia," the party's central committee member said.
The decision by the DBKL to deny the festival a permit irked non-Muslim Malaysians, and NGOs called on city hall to reverse it.
"It is a slippery slope when 'political sensitivities' is cited for banning perfectly legal activities. Diversity and tolerance are our strengths. Don't let narrow-mindedness and intolerance destroy that," Simon Lim Seng Chai, a board member at the Center for a Better Tomorrow, said in a statement.
In recent years terrorist groups have targeted some establishments where alcohol is made or consumed, according to local authorities.
In 2014, Malaysian police said they foiled an Islamic State-linked plot to bomb a Carlsberg factory in the country. But in June 2016, IS claimed responsibility for its first successful attack on Malaysia soil when assailants mounted a grenade attack that injured eight patrons at a nightclub outside Kuala Lumpur. Two men were convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison each over that attack.
On Thursday, a senior opposition leader questioned the national police chief's statement about the festival.
"Two weeks before the 60th Merdeka [Independence] Anniversary celebrations, the Perak police chief revealed that the Islamic State was planning to launch an attack in Perak during the upcoming Merdeka Day celebrations. Did the government cancel all Merdeka celebrations in Perak because of such intelligence reports?" Lim Kit Siang of the Democratic Action Party said, according to Malay Mail Online.
"Of course not, although the intelligence reports would have justified more police reinforcements at critical areas and greater police preparedness," he said.


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BENARNEWS- Malaysian filmmakers have banded together under the wing of a human rights NGO to jumpstart their creativity in a politically charged climate that can mute free speech, they say.
The Komas Center (Pusat Komas) this year launched the Freedom Film Network (FFN), whose mission is to boost the talents of filmmakers as stakeholders in Malaysia's nation-building process and function as a collective peer support group, while they compete in an industry dominated by commercial and politically aligned mainstream media.
"We work together as a team and form a model where social filmmaking will be sustainable, so while maybe not everybody has money to make their own films, we can help out and work on each other's film," Anna Har, a film maker and program coordinator at Komas, told BenarNews.
"It is important to defend a space like this where you can talk freely about human right issues and important issues that cannot come out from the mainstream media," she said.
On its website, the network describes itself as a non-profit established to "support and develop social documentary filmmaking within the context of freedom of expression and values contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Malaysia."
The parent NGO, Komas, which started the annual Freedom Film Festival in 2003 to showcase films that deal with social justice issues and promote human rights, passed the responsibility of this year's festival to the FFN.
Earlier this month, Komas staged the latest instalment of the festival, an eight-day event that drew about 2,500 spectators and during which 40 films from Malaysia and other countries were screened.
This year's festival, which called it a wrap on Sept. 9, featured some entries that were submitted by FFN.
Among others, FFN-made films included "The Hills and The Sea," a documentary about rapid development taking place in Malaysia's Penang state and the impact on flora and fauna there; "Selfie With The Prime Minister," a film about the plight of Rohingya refugees in the country; and "Saving Malaysia," which is about policies surrounding the country's much- anticipated 14th general election.
The country's censorship laws make it illegal for people to own or distribute films unless they have been cleared by the Censorship Board (KDN).
In March, a human rights activist, Lena Hendry, was fined 10,000 ringgit (U.S. $2,384) for screening "No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka," a film about the Sri Lankan civil war that KDN had not approved.
Also this year, Malaysian authorities postponed the release of Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" because the movie contained LGBT-related content. But Disney refused to bow to the government's demands to cut out a scene with a gay character, Le Fou, and the animated movie was eventually released in the country uncensored.
"KDN regularly conducts enforcement based on reports from the general public. Citizens are advised to be aware that there are rules governing the media in this country and we encourage them to report anything suspicious," KDN officials who serve under the Ministry of Home Affairs told BenarNews.
A medium for social justice
Wolfgang Hrushke, the Malaysia director for the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, applauded the film festival, saying it served as an important platform for raising awareness on social issues.
"Documentary is a much more powerful medium than just a printed report to show people about social and political problems," he told BenarNews, adding such issues often are overlooked in Malaysia.
He pointed to issues such as the marginalization of indigenous communities, which was a common theme in four documentaries from Southeast Asia shown at the festival: Malaysia's "Abai"; Indonesia's "The Hope of the Honey Hunter"; Thailand's "The Big Tree"; and the "Right to Learn," a film from the Philippines.
The director of "Abai," Syafie Dris, a member of Malaysia's indigenous community, said filmmaking was a crucial tool to counter misinformation about his people.
"In my film, you can even see high-ranking state government officials making wrong assumptions about the culture of Orang Asli [indigenous people]. And this is someone who meets the Orang Asli fairly regularly. What about people who have never spoken to one?" he told BenarNews.
The director vowed to keep working to chronicle the displacement of his people from their traditional jungle homelands in favor of logging and land-development interests.
This version clarifies the role of Komas in organizing the annual film festival and corrects information about the number of people who attended this year's festival.


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BENARNEWS- An international panel of judges declared Friday that Myanmar's government was guilty of committing genocide against Rohingya Muslims, who have been fleeing the country following months of military crackdowns against the minority group.
The Permanent Peoples' Tribunal (PPT), a network of scholars and experts from around the globe, delivered its verdict after five days of hearings and testimony from witnesses in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.
"[T]he State of Myanmar is guilty of the crime of genocide against the Rohingya group," Daniel Feierstein, an Argentinian jurist who headed the panel, said in reading out its unanimous verdict at the University of Malaya.
"Moreover, that genocide against the Rohingya is now taking place with ongoing acts of genocide and the possibility the casualties of that genocide could be even higher in the future if nothing is done to stop it," he went on to say.
Crimes against the Rohingya qualified as genocide because Myanmar had pursued "systematic policies of discrimination and physical elimination," and "active denial of identity and culture" against them, the PPT said.
The panel gathered evidence from witnesses, experts and prosecutors showing there was "systematic use of the whole spectrum of atrocious violations of the right to life and dignity of the affected populations."
"Raping of women was possibly the most conspicuously present, beside the killing and burning of children and elderly, tortures, and the long list of acts included in the definitions of genocide, crimes against humanity and crimes of war," the tribunal added.
More than half a million Rohingya Muslims have fled into Bangladesh in the past year amid scorched-earth security operations in Rakhine state that U.N. human rights experts have described as "ethnic cleansing."
The operations were launched after Rohingya militants attacked police posts and killed some two dozen security forces. About 1,000 people have been killed in clashes and security sweeps by the country's military, according to the U.N.
The verdict marked the first time international jurists had described killings as "genocide."
Myanmar government representatives did not testify during the hearings, or respond to requests to appear before the tribunal, according to PPT officials. The Myanmar embassy in the Malaysian capital did not respond to calls from BenarNews.
'Total impunity'
The tribunal also found that Myanmar had "genocidal intent" against other Muslims in the country, and the Kachin people and had committed "crimes of humanity" against them
The Kachin ethnic group lives in northern Burma's Kachin State. Rebels in Kachin have been fighting for decades for independence or autonomy within a federal Myanmar, which successive governments of the ethnically diverse country have long rejected.
The Permanent Peoples' Tribunal – founded in 1979 and headquartered in Italy – is an "opinion tribunal" whose rulings are not legally binding. It began deliberations in London in March into whether state crimes were being committed against various groups in Myanmar.
"The full responsibility of the State of Myanmar for the above crimes is made more hideous because of the state of total impunity which is guaranteed by the substantial absence of a judicial system, as it is totally dependent from the military Government which is de facto the only ruling power," the statement added.
The tribunal will forward its findings to international bodies and civil groups in order to keep pressure on Myanmar, Feierstein told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.
The six other panelists were human rights lawyers Nursyahbani Katjasungkana of Indonesia and Shadi Sadr of Iran; Helen Jarvis, an Australian-Cambodian jurist; Gill Boehringer, former dean of the law school at Australia's Macquarie University; Nello Rossi, an Italian solicitor-general; and Zulaiha Ismail, a trustee at Malaysia's Perdana Global Peace Foundation.
Hasina addresses UN
The tribunal's ruling came as a humanitarian crisis deepened in southeastern Bangladesh, where an unprecedented wave of 429,000 Rohingya refugees has arrived after violence broke out in Rakhine state in late August, according to the latest figures from relief agencies.
Myanmar government officials have blamed atrocities, including the burnings of hundreds of Rohingya homes in Rakhine, on the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA).
During her address to the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina called on Myanmar to stop the "violence and the practice of ethnic cleansing in Rakhine" immediately and without condition.
She also called for "safe zones" to be created in Rakhine so all communities living there could be protected "irrespective of religion and ethnicity."
On Friday, the U.N.'s resident coordinator in Bangladesh said the United Nations would need $200 million over the next six months to deal with the unprecedented influx of refugees from Rakhine.
"Our best estimate at this point is $200 million. We are putting together a plan right now that will be ready in about four or five days," Robert Watkins told Agence France-Presse.
Earlier this week, the United States announced that it would provide close to $32 million in new humanitarian aid to help with the refugee situation in southeastern Bangladesh and Rohingya who were displaced within Rakhine.
Speaking before the U.N. Security Council, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence also called on Myanmar's security forces to end the violence immediately. "The images of the violence and its victims have shocked the American people and decent people all over the world," he said.
In a speech to diplomats in Naypyidaw earlier this week, de facto Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi said there had been no further clashes or clearance operations after Sept. 5, and claimed that any human rights violations would be addressed "with strict norms of justice."


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BENARNEWS- A Malaysian court Monday charged an alleged mastermind and three fellow suspected members of the Philippine-based Abu Sayyaf (ASG) militant group in connection with a foiled terror plot against the Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur last month.
Hajar Abdul Mubin, 25, (alias Abu Asrie), the alleged mastermind who has been identified by the Philippine military as the right-hand man of a senior leader of ASG, was charged on suspicion of being a member of a terrorist group, according to court documents. Under Malaysia's Penal Code, membership with a terrorist group carries life imprisonment and a fine upon conviction.
The court also charged three other ASG suspects – Malaysians Ahmad Omar, 52, and Jaffar Ahmad, 26, and 25-year-old Filipino Abdul Syamir Dabili – after they intentionally omitted information about their terrorist activities, documents show. The charge is punishable with seven years in prison or a fine, or both.
The four men worked in the construction sector and were among 19 terror suspects arrested by Malaysian police between early July and Aug. 31.
Hajar, who was involved in kidnappings and clashes with soldiers in the southern Philippines, had slipped into Malaysia through Sandakan in the state of Sabah, before making his way to Kuala Lumpur in December 2015, Malaysian Police Chief Mohamad Fuzi Harun said in a statement early this month.
He also had reportedly met with several suspected Malaysian Islamic State (IS) militants, including Mahmud Ahmad, who allegedly served as a conduit for IS funds coming from the Middle East. Mahmud was actively involved in the siege of the southern Philippine city of Marawi together with ASG leader Isnilon Hapilon, the acknowledged regional IS leader.
In Monday's proceedings, all four suspects nodded when asked if they understood the charges, after these were read out in Malay at the Kajang's Sessions Court in the state of Selangor. They were not represented by lawyers.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Siti Noorhafizan Zakaria did not offer bail since the suspects were arrested under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (SOSMA) 2012.
Police arrested eight of the 19 suspects between July and August when they raided the hideouts of terror suspects in the states of Selangor, Johor, Kelantan and in the capital Kuala Lumpur.
Police said the raids were launched to thwart a terror plot during the closing ceremony of the Southeast Asian games, and the country's Independence Day on Aug. 31, in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur. Police did not provide details on the terror plot and did not mention if any weapons or explosives were recovered during the series of raids.
"Intelligence shows the suspect planned to launch attacks during the SEA Games closing ceremony in National Stadium (Bukit Jalil) and during the National Day celebration," Fuzi said in a statement earlier this month, describing Hajar as the plot's mastermind.
Eleven nations and thousands of athletes participated in the 29th edition of the SEA Games, from Aug. 19 to 30.
ASG is notorious for abducting civilians from different countries and executing foreign hostages when ransoms are not met. Some of the group's fighters are linked with IS and have also been involved in occupying Marawi since May 23.
Since the beginning of the year, 41 foreigners classified as "foreign terrorist fighters" have been captured in Malaysia, Fuzi told reporters on Thursday.
During the past four years, Malaysian authorities have arrested 339 people suspected of having links to terrorism organizations, including IS. Sixty-six of those suspects have been freed, according to government figures compiled by BenarNews.


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BENARNEWS- A Malaysian prince said he had a "very positive" meeting Tuesday with a North Korean diplomat ahead of a football match between the two nations that will go on in Pyongyang next month, despite heightened tensions over the hermit state's nuclear and ballistic missile tests.
Tunku Ismail Idris Sultan Ibrahim, the crown prince of the Malaysian state of Johor and president of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), was also granted rare airspace access into North Korea as a result of his meeting with Kim Yu Song, the chargé d'affaires at Pyongyang's embassy in Kuala Lumpur, according to a statement from the prince.
Tunku Ismail and the diplomat tackled foreign affairs issues and discussed the twice-rescheduled Asian Cup qualifier match between Malaysia and North Korea that is now set to be played in Pyongyang on Oct. 5.
The crown prince received "a special honor of being allowed full access to use their airspace to travel from Johor to Pyongyang anytime His Royal Highness wants to visit North Korea," the statement said. "It is the highest honor, as any other world leader will need to stop by in Beijing" before being able to fly straight to the North Korean capital, it said.
"The discussion bore very positive results whereby a speech from His Royal Highness was passed to North Korea's top leader," the statement said, without elaborating.
Officials from the Malaysian Foreign Ministry declined to comment about the news from the Bukit Serene Palace, the official residence of the Sultan of Johor, where the meeting occurred.
Windsor Paul, secretary-general of the 47-nation Asian Football Confederation (AFC), said he was not sure of the crown prince's travel plans to Pyongyang, despite the special air access.
"As for the match itself, the Competitions Committee has already decided that the match will go on unless there is a change to the security status in the region which we are monitoring closely," he told BenarNews late Tuesday.
With four matches remaining, Malaysia needs to finish among the top two teams in Group B to qualify for the 2019 AFC Cup, which will be played in the United Arab Emirates from Jan. 5 to Feb. 1, 2019, according to Bernama, Malaysia's state news agency.
Malaysia lost 2-1 to Lebanon and only managed a 1-1 draw against Hong Kong in two AFC Cup qualifiers.
The crown prince had earlier expressed fears that players from the national team could be exposed to food poisoning "due to the possibility of sabotage," if the AFC compelled the Malaysian Tigers to play the match in Pyongyang.
Malaysia is among 10 ASEAN countries that maintain relations with North Korea.
Kuala Lumpur and Pyongyang have had bilateral ties since 1973, but these were strained earlier this year following the assassination on Malaysian soil of Kim Jong Nam, the half-brother of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
Mounting tensions in Koreas
North Korea's recent nuclear and ballistic missile tests have raised tensions on the Korean Peninsula and alarm over regional security among members of the international community, including Malaysia.
Last week, the Malaysian government condemned North Korea's launch of ballistic missiles and expressed dismay over the communist regime's constant defiance of U.N. sanctions. Kuala Lumpur also urged Pyongyang to halt its nuclear and ballistic missile program.
"Malaysia expresses serious concern that the ballistic missile had yet again traversed the sovereign territory of Japan, posing a direct threat to its national security. Such provocative action further aggravates the existing tensions in the Korean Peninsula and the region," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement Friday.
On Sept. 11, the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to boost sanctions against North Korea after Pyongyang's sixth and largest nuclear test this month. The sanctions, the ninth such resolution adopted against North Korea since 2006, banned textile exports and capped fuel supplies.
Football and politics
The upcoming match initially was to be played in Pyongyang on March 28. But it was postponed to June 8 following security concerns raised by Malaysian officials, amid a diplomatic row that broke out after Kim Jong Nam was killed in a chemical weapon attack at a Kuala Lumpur area airport on Feb. 13.
The row lasted six weeks and saw Malaysia and North Korea expel their respective ambassadors, as well as impose reciprocal exit bans on each other's citizens. Malaysia's prime minister also joined South Korea and the United States in blaming North Korean government agents for Kim's murder.
The row ended in late March, when Malaysia agreed to return Kim's body to North Korea in exchange for the release of Malaysian embassy staff and their families who had been stranded in Pyongyang as a result of the exit ban. The travel bans have since been lifted.
The Kuala Lumpur-based AFC has re-designated Pyongyang as the playing venue for the final qualifying Group B match, citing the lifting of a travel ban. The match was supposed to be played in Pyongyang on March 28 but Malaysia had asked the sports body that it be played in a neutral setting.
Malaysia could be fined up to $50,000 and face disqualification from future tournaments if it decided to pull out of the North Korean match.
This updated version properly identifies the Crown Prince of Johor.


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BENARNEWS- Tensions between Malaysia and fellow ASEAN states have deepened over the bloc's handling of the Rohingya Muslim crisis in Myanmar and Bangladesh, with Foreign Minister Anifah Aman rebuking ASEAN's latest statement on the issue.
The minister issued an unusually sharp statement on Sunday night saying Malaysia disagreed with and was detaching itself from a separate statement sent out earlier in the day by the chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano, who spoke on behalf of the 10 ASEAN foreign ministers.
Anifah let it be known that the Malaysian government was angry because the ASEAN statement made no mention of the word "Rohingya," members of a stateless Muslim minority group who allegedly have been targeted in atrocities in Myanmar's Rakhine state.
During the past month, more than 400,000 Rohingya have crossed into southeastern Bangladesh as they fled the latest cycle of violence in Rakhine.
"Malaysia would like to dissociate itself with the chairman's statement as we are of the view that it is a misrepresentation of the reality of the situation. In this regard, Malaysia has made known its concerns but they were not reflected in the chairman's statement," Anifah said.
"Hence, the chairman's statement was not based on consensus. The statement also omits the Rohingyas as one of the affected communities," Malaysia's foreign minister added
He was referring to one of ASEAN's founding principles stipulating that all collective statements be agreed to unanimously by its 10 members.
Myanmar's military and local Buddhist militia in Rakhine have been blamed for targeting Rohingya civilians in atrocities such as killings and the burnings of hundreds of homes and villages belonging to the minority. Authorities in Myanmar, which is a member of ASEAN, have instead accused an insurgent group, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), of fomenting violence in Rakhine.
The cycle of violence began on Aug. 25, when ARSA insurgents launched deadly attacks on Myanmar police outposts in Rakhine.
The word "Rohingya" is a controversial in Myanmar, whose government has refused to grant citizenship to members of this minority group. The Buddhist majority refers to Rohingya pejoratively as "Bengalis," because of their physical similarities with people from neighboring Bangladesh and to imply they are undocumented immigrants.
In his statement, Anifah said Malaysia condemned the ARSA attacks on police, but that the "clearance operations" by Myanmar authorities were "disproportionate in that [these have] led to deaths of many innocent civilians and caused more than 400,000 Rohingyas to be displaced."
He also called on Myanmar to end the violence in Rakhine and "stop destruction to lives and properties."
'Out of respect for its position'
On Monday, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs issued a statement saying that the Philippines respected Malaysia's stance on the Rakhine issue and its decision to disavow its participation in the wording that went into Cayetano's official statement as the ASEAN chairman.
"ASEAN is deeply concerned about the humanitarian situation in the northern Rakhine State and since Malaysia has different views on some issues, out of respect for its position, we decided that instead of a foreign ministers statement, we would issue a chairman's statement that would reflect the general sentiments of the other foreign ministers," the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said in its statement on Monday.
The ASEAN statement was issued after extensive consultations with Malaysia, the DFA added.
"The Philippines as chair tolerates the public manifestation of dissenting voices," the department said. "This demonstrates a new level of maturity on how we implement ASEAN's consensus principle when confronted with issues affecting national interests."
The Philippines is this year's holder of ASEAN's chair, which rotates among its 10 members.
Anifah's statement was the second this month criticizing ASEAN's handling of the crisis in Rakhine state.
In early September, Anifah said the Malaysian government had lost confidence in the regional bloc over its response to the Rakhine issue.
"Malaysia has voiced concern to Myanmar and other ASEAN countries in meetings and they have pledging to solve the matter but the issue has not been addressed and what we see now is the violence against Rohingya Muslim has increased," Anifah said after meeting with the Brazilian foreign minister in Putrajaya on Sept. 6.
"In my opinion, ASEAN is no longer able to address this issue. I am no longer hoping for the organization to solve the problem of Rohingya Muslims," he added.
Felipe Villamor in Manila contributed to this report.


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BENARNEWS- Malaysian police freed a prominent Turkish scholar on Tuesday after holding him for nearly a day over allegations that he preached without the state Islamic authority's approval and in violation of a Sharia law.
Turkish author and journalist Mustafa Akyol was taken into police custody on Monday for allegedly making religious sermons without obtaining credentials from the Federal Territories Islamic Affairs Department (JAWI).
"I am now free, after 18 hours of detention. Thanks so much for all who helped, supported, and prayed," Akyol tweeted on Tuesday evening.
He was arrested at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on Monday night after being barred from boarding a flight to Rome, JAWI said in a statement Tuesday.
Sharia court warrant
Akyol was detained after JAWI received complaints about his participation at the forum, titled "Does Freedom of Conscience Open the Floodgate to Apostasy," and which took place at the Royal Selangor Golf Club on Sunday, Department Director Abdul Aziz Jusoh said.
JAWI contacted Akyol on Monday to summon him for questioning over an alleged breach of Section 11 of the Sharia Criminal Offenses Act regarding conducting religious teachings without proper credentials, the JAWI director said. Conviction on the charge carries a fine of up to 5,000 ringgit (U.S. $1,188), up to three years in prison or both.
Because Akyol did not respond to the summons, JAWI asked the Kuala Lumpur Sharia Court to issue a warrant for his arrest.
Akyol said he was released Tuesday afternoon after JAWI was satisfied that he was not aware of the law.
"Therefore, JAWI advises any organizers who invite speakers to deliver any talks related to Islam to have the necessary teaching credentials as required by the law of this country," Abdul Aziz said.
On Monday, Akyol canceled a scheduled lecture at the Nottingham University campus in Kuala Lumpur on "The Islamic Jesus: How the King of the Jews Became a Prophet of the Muslims."
News site Free Malaysia Today reported Akyol was pressured by Malaysian authorities to call  off the lecture at the last minute
Forum organizer Islamic Renaissance Front's (IRF) Ahmad Farouk Musa broke the news of Akyol's arrest through a tweet minutes after it occurred.
"Our guest & renowned international author is being detained in KLIA. We suspect it might have to do with JAWI. Creeping Talibanization," IRF tweeted Monday night.
In August, IRF criticized the Department of Islamic Development of Malaysia (Jakim) for accusing it of deviating from Islam.
Jakim Director-General Othman Mustapha accused IRF and G25, a pro-moderation group of retired civil servants, of trying to bring liberal and deviant ideas into the country. Jakim highlighted apparent remarks by Muslim scholar Mun'im Sirry on the origins of the Quran, during a seminar in August.
Farouk responded by asking if Jakim thought Muslims could not think for themselves.
"IRF believes in intellectual discourse and critical thinking," he said. "The whole idea is about thinking and rethinking. Any ideas should be discussed intellectually, not emotionally."
Scholar distressed
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) said Akyol was distressed and that he wanted to leave the country as soon as possible.
"He says he did not preach, it was an academic conference. He didn't go to any mosque," Suhakam commissioner Jerald Joseph told Malay Mail Online.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International Malaysia (AIM) said Akyol's arrest was concerning and that Malaysian authorities were resorting to heavy-handed measures to silence outspoken academics and dissenting voices.
"The Malaysian government has used various scare tactics, including the use of police investigations and travel bans to stigmatize the work of human rights defenders, critical academics and outspoken individuals," AIM acting executive director Gwen Lee said in a statement Tuesday night.
N. Nantha in Kuala Lumpur contributed to the report.


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BENARNEWS- The sign greeting customers in his shop had created a national ruckus, but the owner of a "Muslim-friendly" laundromat in Malaysia's Johor state on Wednesday dropped his policy excluding people of other faiths, when the local Sultan ordered him to apologize and be inclusive.
The 40-year-old owner said he was carrying out his duty as a Muslim, adding that non-Muslims could visit other nearby laundromats, which are known as launderettes in multi-religious Malaysia, according to local media accounts of the controversy that lasted several days and lit up social media.
A board in front of the man's shop had proclaimed that it was "Muslim-friendly."
"This laundrette only serves Muslim customers due to issues of purity. Any inconveniences are deeply regrettable. Please leave your shoes before entering," the sign said.
Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar put an end to this on Wednesday when he spoke out vehemently against the laundromat's exclusionary policy.
"I cannot accept this nonsense. This is Johor, which belongs to Bangsa Johor and it belongs to all races and faiths. This is a progressive, modern and moderate state," the sultan of the southern Malaysian state, which borders Singapore, told The Star. "Bangsa" means "race" in Malay.
"This is not a Taliban state and as the Head of Islam in Johor, I find this action to be totally unacceptable as this is extremist in nature."
The Sultan ordered state Islamic authorities to investigate the matter.
"I want the owner to apologize to me and the people of Johor. He has made Johoreans very angry and embarrassed because this is not the Johor we want.
"The owner has gone against the vision of a united, harmonious, moderate and tolerant Johor. If he still insists on carrying on the Muslim-only practice, he can leave Johor. I suggest he set up shop in Afghanistan. His thinking is sick and goes against everything that Johor stands for," His Majesty said according to The Star report.
The owner, whose name has not been released, responded quickly to the criticism.
"I will comply with Tuanku's wishes to let non-Muslims use my laundrette. I would also like to say I am sorry to the Sultan and the people of Johor over this issue," he was quoted as saying in Free Malaysia Today.
Prime Minister Najib Razak praised the Sultan's statement and the owner's response.
"The government will remain committed to upholding the true Islamic teachings while protecting the interests of the other communities as demanded of Islam," he said in a statement.
Najib said Malaysia was a moderate Islamic nation that maintains a moderate way of life.
"I am confident that Muslims will continue to uphold this struggle because we all want to see Malaysia progress into a successful, respected and exemplary country," he said.
Reactions
Ridzuan Rahim, a businessman in Johor, expressed relief.
"Can you imagine if it had prolonged and no one said anything about it? We may soon have laundrettes for Chinese, laundrettes for Indians. Unbelievable!" he told BenarNews.
Others saw the sign as exposing more deep-rooted issues.
Sarawakian Heyward Maxwell Pengabang, 35, said the episode was yet another regrettable example that showed how the nation had a long road ahead in achieving equality.
About 19.5 million Muslims make up more than 60 percent of Malaysia's population of nearly 32 million people, while Buddhists, Hindus and Christians account for much of the rest.
"Since Malaysia portrays itself as a progressive Muslim country, then there is no need for this religious segregation," he told BenarNews.
Chandrasekaran Veeraiah, agreed, saying Malaysians needed to foster greater trust and unity for future generations of the multi-racial country.
"As it is, the political climate in this country is already promoting racial, social and religious discrimination. We should promote diversity," he told BenarNews.
Hafidz Rahman of Johor, who welcomed the Sultan's decree, said discrimination occurred throughout Malaysian society.
"Well, we have requirements for jobs which state that only Chinese candidates are welcome to apply. Where is the fairness in this," he told BenarNews.
Labid Balang in Kuching contributed to the report.


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BENARNEWS- Pointing to heightened nuclear tensions on the Korean Peninsula, the Malaysian government Thursday banned citizens from traveling to North Korea, including the national football team which was forced to postpone a match in Pyongyang next week.
The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) announced the third postponement of the national men team's 2019 Asian Cup qualifier match against North Korea, which was to be played on Oct. 5, after Malaysia's foreign ministry banned travel to the communist state.
The ministry said it took the decision to ban "all Malaysians" from travelling to North Korea "in view of the escalation of tensions in the Korean Peninsula and related developments arising from missile tests."
"The travel ban will be reviewed once the situation has returned to normal," the ministry added in a statement.
"Yes, all Malaysian citizens including the national football team and Malaysians working for international agencies, such as the United Nations, are banned from traveling to North Korea," Deputy Foreign Minister Reezal Merican Naina Merican told BenarNews.
The ministry's announcement did not specifically name North Korea as it pointed to recent developments in the Korean Peninsula around nuclear weapons and ballistic missile tests. A slew of such tests carried out by Pyongyang this year has raised tensions across East Asia and led to the United States, South Korea and Japan conducting military maneuvers as a show of force.
Earlier this month, the Malaysian government condemned a North Korean missile launch and expressed dismay over the communist regime's constant defiance of U.N. sanctions. Kuala Lumpur also urged Pyongyang to halt its nuclear and ballistic missile program.
The two nations have maintained diplomatic and commercial ties since 1973, but those were rocked following the assassination of Kim Jong Nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, at a Kuala Lumpur area airport on Feb. 13.
Two Southeast Asian women, who were arrested as suspects in the case, are set to enter pleas on murder charges when their trial at a Malaysian court opens on Monday.
The six-week-long bilateral diplomatic row saw Malaysia and North Korea expel their respective ambassadors and impose exit bans on each other's citizens. Prime Minister Najib Razak joined South Korea and the United States in blaming North Korean government agents for Kim's death.
In late March, Malaysia agreed to return Kim Jong Nam's body to North Korea in exchange for the release of Malaysian embassy staff and their families who had been stranded in Pyongyang as a result of the exit ban that was lifted.
Third postponement
The football match between the two nations had already been postponed twice over diplomatic tensions that arose after Kim Jong Nam was assassinated, according to Malaysian police, with an internationally banned chemical weapon.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the organization overseeing the 2019 tournament, announced the postponement on its website.
"The AFC will now refer the matter to the appropriate committees to decide on the future status of this match," the confederation said in a statement.
FAM Secretary-General Hamidin Mohd Amin said the national football team, known as Harimau Malaya (the Malayan Tigers), had been preparing to travel to Pyongyang on Tuesday, two days ahead of the match. The team will instead prepare for an Oct. 10 qualifier match against Hong Kong in China.
On Sept. 19, Tunku Ismail Idris Sultan Ibrahim, the crown prince of the southern state of Johor and president of FAM, met with Kim Yu Song, the chargé d'affaires at Pyongyang's embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
At that meeting, Tunku Ismail was granted rare airspace access into North Korea. Normal protocol requires that planes stop in Beijing before flying onto North Korea, according to a statement following the meeting.
Leading up to the two previous postponements, the crown prince was an outspoken critic of playing the match in Pyongyang and he expressed fears that the national team could be exposed to food poisoning through sabotage.


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BENARNEWS- A Malaysian court on Thursday charged two teenagers with 23 counts of murder for allegedly causing a fire that killed 21 students and two teachers at an Islamic school in Kuala Lumpur two weeks ago.
The two 16-year-old suspects haven't entered a plea in the blaze that engulfed the third-floor dormitory of the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah School on Sept. 14, prosecutors said.
The two boys and four other teenage suspects were also charged with drug-related offenses at the Kuala Lumpur Magistrate's Court. A seventh suspect was released from custody without charge due to a lack of evidence against him.
Thursday's proceedings took place behind closed doors and only family members of the accused were allowed inside the courtroom.
In Malaysia, a murder charge carries a death sentence, but in cases involving juveniles, the maximum penalty is life imprisonment.
Magistrate Siti Radziah Kamaruddin set Nov. 28 for sentencing, while the court awaited reports from the state's chemistry and welfare departments.
Malaysian police earlier said that the seven boys had deliberately set fire at the school, which is classified as a "tahfiz" center where students learn to memorize the Quran.
Thirty-six students and six teachers were staying at the school when the fire broke out. The victims, boys aged 16 years or younger, and two school staff members were trapped behind barred windows and a locked door, fire officials said. They said the school did not have a fire safety permit and occupational certificate.
The father of one of the survivors, Sharifuddin Musa, said he wanted to see the court proceedings on Thursday, but was not allowed in by court officials.
"I can forgive, but I am also sad about what had happened. Other family members and I can only hope for fair sentences being passed on these suspects," he told reporters.
The mother of 12-year-old Nik Mohd Ridzuan, who died in the blaze, also tried to enter the courtroom.
"I just want to see the faces of those who are responsible for the incident," she said.
'I feel nothing at the moment'
After hearing the murder charges read out, Mas Aliza Ali Bapoo, a cousin of three orphans who were killed in the fire – Muhammad Shafiq Haikal, 13, Muhammad Hafiz Iskandar, 11, and Muhammad Harris Ikhwan, 10 – said she felt numb.
"I feel nothing at the moment. I feel empty," she told reporters.
Six of the seven suspects tested positive for drugs after their arrests on Sept. 15, police said.
Investigators said the suspects had been involved in a "misunderstanding" with students at the school. The boys were allegedly caught on closed-circuit TV recordings loitering outside the school before the early morning fire started.
The two murder suspects pleaded guilty to drug-related charges. Three others pled not guilty, while another suspect admitted guilt to the same drug charges.
On Wednesday, Noor Rashid Ibrahim, the police deputy inspector-general, told reporters that not all suspects were directly involved in the alleged arson.
The fire prompted calls for a nationwide investigation of tahfiz schools after Malaysian newspapers reported that more than 200 fires had been reported at private religious schools across the country during the past two years.
The Star newspaper said there were 519 private tahfiz schools registered nationwide as of April, but many more are believed to be unregistered.
Malaysia's Fire and Rescue Department concluded two weeks ago that arson caused the fire. It said firefighters had found two cooking gas cylinders which were placed at the door of the school's dormitory and prevented the victims from escaping.
As the fire engulfed the dormitory, witnesses reported being awoken by cries for help. Firefighters said they found the charred bodies piled on top of each other, indicating that the victims tried to flee, but were trapped by metal window grills.
"From our investigations, we believe it was due to taunting between the suspects and several of the tahfiz students a few days before the fire," Kuala Lumpur Police Chief Amar Singh Ishar Singh told reporters.


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BENARNEWS- Lawyers for two Southeast Asian women accused of assassinating the half-brother of North Korea's dictator in Malaysia in February demanded that the names of four North Korean suspects be entered into the court's record as their clients' murder trial opened on Monday.
But the judge rejected the defense's request to compel the prosecution to reveal the names of the four North Koreans on day one of the trial, which featured witnesses giving chilling accounts of the final moments in the life of Kim Jong Nam. He died after being attacked with a banned nerve agent at a Kuala Lumpur area airport on Feb. 13.
The defendants, Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 25, and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, 28, both pleaded not guilty to Kim's murder as their trial began at the Shah Alam court complex in Selangor state. The women arrived at the courthouse wearing bullet-proof vests and could face the death penalty, if convicted.
Their attorneys argued in court they could not build a solid defense if the prosecution did not enter the names of the four North Koreans who left the country on the day of the assassination, and who were identified by Malaysian police as persons wanted in connection with the killing. In February, Malaysian investigators said they were looking for the four North Korean men, who, they said, had been filmed by a security camera at the same airport on Feb. 13. Police had identified them by name at the time.
"The prosecution has a moral duty to disclose the names. The charge stated that my client has common intention with four others. The defense needs the names for the purpose of our defense," Doan's lawyer, Hisyam Teh Poh Teik Hisyam, told the court.
Judge Azmi Ariffin dismissed the request, saying the omission of the names of the four North Koreans would not affect the case against the two women.
"There must be fairness, but we respect the judge's decision this morning," Hisyam later told reporters.
Before their trial opened, the two women claimed they had been duped by some men into thinking they were playing a prank on Kim Jong Nam that was being filmed as part of a reality TV show. The women claimed they did not know they were smearing the deadly VX nerve agent on his face when they accosted him at the airport.
However, in his opening statement, chief prosecutor Muhamad Iskandar Ahmad said he aimed to prove that both defendants were involved in a prank along with four others that resulted in the death of Kim Jong Nam.
"The act of both women involved in a prank exercise supervised by four people who are still at large shows a common intention and motive between the women and the four individuals in killing the deceased," the prosecutor told the court.
The North Korean government has denied any role in the killing of Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half-brother of Pyongyang dictator Kim Jong Un. Pyongyang officials also refused to identify the body of the assassinated man as that of Kim Jong Nam, who was carrying a passport bearing the name of Kim Chol when he was fatally attacked.
 
'His hands were trembling'
The trial's first day featured testimony from four witnesses called by the prosecution.
Witness Juliana Idris, who was on duty as a customer care representative at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2, said a man with a North Korean passport that identified him as Kim Chol, 45, approached her on the day of the attack.
"His hands were trembling, I was wondering why. He told me that he wanted to lodge a police report. I was with him for about 10 to 20 minutes," she testified.
She said Kim spoke to her in English at the information counter and asked to be taken to a police station. The man told her that two women had approached him from behind and smeared a substance on his face, Juliana testified.
Witness Rabiatul Adawiyah Mohd Sofi, a medical assistant at the Menara Medical Clinic at the airport, said that, at around 9:30 a.m. on Feb. 13, police brought in a man suffering from seizure-like symptoms.
"There were two policemen taking a man to the clinic who claimed that someone sprayed liquid on his face. Then I took his passport for registration," she testified.
"It looked like liquid. His eyes were red," Rabiatul said.
Police Lance Cpl. Mohd Zulkarnain Sanudin testified that the victim told him his eyes were blurry and he could not see.
Physician Nik Mohd Adzrul Ariff Raja Azlan, who tended to the victim and was the last witness to testify on Monday, said Kim was sweating profusely.
"When I met him, his hands were clutching his head. He was closing his eyes tightly and his face was also very red," the physician testified.
Kim's pulse, Nik said, was rapid and showing symptoms of seizure. "His jaw and teeth were clenched and his eyes were rolling up."
Kim soon fell unconscious and his pulse stopped beating, Nik testified.
The trial adjourned shortly after 4 p.m. and was scheduled to resume on Tuesday.
The prosecution phase of the trial is scheduled for 23 days in October and November. Once finished, the judge will determine if the prosecution has built its case and if so, allow the defense to proceed.
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Suspects Doan Thi Hoang and Indonesian Siti Aisyah are led out of the Shah Alam court complex following the first day of their trial on charges that they murdered Kim Jong Nam, Oct. 2, 2017. (FadzilAziz/BenarNews)


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BENARNEWS- Under pressure from defense attorneys, a pathologist told a Malaysian court on Tuesday it was possible based on blood tests to conclude that the two women accused of murdering Kim Jong Nam had no contact with the chemical which killed him.
Blood samples taken from Kim's body also showed very low levels of cholinesterase, which is consistent with nerve-agent poisoning, Kuala Lumpur General Hospital pathologist Norashikin Othman testified.
The pathologist took the witness stand during the second day of the trial of two Southeast Asian women charged with murdering the half-brother of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un at a Malaysian airport.
"Such a condition could have been caused either by the work of a nerve agent or pesticide," Norashikin said.
Cholinesterase is an enzyme that controls muscles and very low levels can lead to organ failure.
The two defendants, Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 25, and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, 28, are accused of killing Kim Jong Nam by allegedly smearing his face with the banned VX nerve agent at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Feb. 13.
A normal cholinesterase level would be between 5,320 and 12,290 units per liter of blood, but Kim's level was 344, Norashikin testified. By comparison, enzyme readings for Siti and Huong yielded normal results of 6,781 and 7,163, respectively.
The defendants, who could face the death penalty if convicted, pleaded not guilty on Monday to murdering Kim. Previously, the two women claimed they thought they were involved in some sort of prank while being filmed as part of a reality TV show.
Norashikin agreed with the prosecution that nerve agents such as VX could have triggered the low enzyme levels. But she also agreed with defense lawyers that the low levels could have been caused by a liver disease or by a man taking female hormones.
During questioning, Norashikin said it was possible the two women had no contact with the VX poison, but she also said they could have washed their hands with soap and water or ingested an antidote after being exposed to a low dose.
'Taken by surprise'
After court adjourned, Gooi Soon Seng, Siti's attorney, complained that the prosecution had not turned over pathology reports confirming the two women's normal enzyme level, which would bolster their defense.
"This piece of evidence was never served to us, and we were taken by surprise by the attitude of the prosecution because they were supposed to disclose all favorable and unfavorable evidence to the defense," he told reporters. "That is an important factor for us."
If the two defendants had normal levels of cholinesterase, then they did not handle VX poison, he said.
"If she applied this VX, why is her level of cholinesterase normal? If you are exposed to it, your level must be equally low or lower," he said, referring to his client.


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BENARNEWS- Four North Koreans who left Malaysia the day Kim Jong Nam was assassinated may have been the ones who poisoned him, a doctor testified during a murder trial here Wednesday.
The comment came during cross-examination of the doctor who autopsied the half-brother of North Korean strongman Kim Jong Un, by lawyers defending two female migrant workers caught on camera allegedly smearing a chemical weapon on the victim's face at a Malaysian airport.
The day's deliberations saw prosecutors wear masks as they presented evidence said to contain traces of VX nerve agent, including a T-shirt and underwear worn by Kim and a bag belonging to him.
While a defense lawyer questioned him on the witness stand, Dr. Mohd Shah Mahmood acknowledged that Kim could have been poisoned before he went to Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 on Feb. 13. Malaysian police had said Kim was murdered in a chemical weapon attack at the airport that day as he prepared to board a flight to Macau.
The two Southeast Asian women who are on trial could be sentenced to death if convicted, and prosecutors allege that the women smeared Kim's face with VX as they accosted him at the airport.
Early on in their investigation, police identified four North Korean men as being wanted in connection with the case and Malaysian authorities sought Interpol's assistance in locating them after they allegedly flew out of Malaysia on Feb. 13. The four North Koreans were filmed by a security camera at the same airport that day, police said.
"Doctor, do you agree with me that you do not know if the four men still at large could have poisoned the victim with VX before going to KLIA?," defense lawyer Naran Singh asked the witness, to which Mohd Shah responded that he did not know.
"Is there a possibility?" Naran pressed him in his follow-up question.
"If talking about possibility, there's a possibility," replied Mohd Shah, who heads the forensic department at Kuala Lumpur General Hospital, where Kim's body was kept for weeks after the murder.
When the trial opened Monday, the judge turned down a defense request that the prosecution be compelled to include the names of the four North Koreans into the court's record. Judge Azmi Ariffin said omitting such information would not affect the case against the two defendants.
No DNA match
Apart from traces of VX found in Kim's blood, eye mucosa and a facial swab, lab tests on blood samples taken from the body revealed traces of other drugs in his system, Mohd Shah also testified. He said VX could enter a person's system "via skin contact, ingestion, inhalation, injection and the eye."
"There were six types of drugs in the deceased's blood samples, namely drugs to treat diabetes, high blood pressure, gout and also erectile dysfunction," the doctor testified while responding to questions from Gooi Soon Seng, a lawyer representing Indonesian defendant Siti Aisyah, 25.
Naran was one of the lawyers representing the other defendant, Doan Thi Hoang, 28, a Vietnamese national.
On Wednesday, defense lawyers also appeared to try to cast doubt on how the nerve agent was introduced into the victim.
Naran asked if Mohd Shah could agree that the deceased could have been given a drink laced with VX prior to his arrival at the airport, to which the pathologist replied that he "could not determine."
Under cross-examination from Naran, Mohd Shah also revealed he was not able to conduct a DNA test to confirm the victim's identity because he had not received a DNA sample from a next-of-kin. When he was murdered, Kim was carrying a North Korean passport that identified him as "Kim Chol."
This part of his testimony appeared to contradict the Malaysian government's assertion that Kim Jong Nam's identity had been verified through a DNA sample provided by one of his children.
"Is it true that DNA from Kim Chol's body was compared with his son to confirm the body was indeed Kim Chol's?" Naran asked Mohd Shah.
"Not true," the doctor replied.  "DNA matching couldn't be conducted as I had only one set of DNA – that is from the deceased."


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BENARNEWS- Prosecutors offered the first evidence Thursday linking the lethal VX nerve agent to two Southeast Asian women charged with murdering the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
A chemical weapons expert, who testified for the prosecution, told the Malaysian High Court near Kuala Lumpur that he found traces of VX, a nerve agent banned by the United Nations, on the clothes of Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 25, and Vietnamese Doan Thi Hoang, 28.
The two migrant workers are accused of murdering Kim Jong Nam at a Kuala Lumpur airport on Feb. 13 by smearing his face with VX as he waited to board a flight to Macau. The women have denied the charges, saying they thought they were playing a harmless prank while being filmed for a hidden-camera TV show.
Kim died within minutes of being attacked and the two women, who face the death penalty if convicted, were arrested a few days after the sensational assassination that sparked a diplomatic row between Malaysia and North Korea.
Raja Subramaniam, chief chemist at Malaysia's Chemical Weapons and Analysis Center, testified Thursday that traces of the chemical weapon were found on shirts belonging to Siti Aisyah and Doan.
"We found a degradation product of VX on sleeveless shirt of Siti Aisyah," the chemist told the Shah Alam court in Selangor state.
He said he found VX and a degraded form of the agent on a T-shirt Doan wore during the day of the attack. The shirt was printed with "LOL," acronym for "laughing out loud," in big letters. Traces of the poison were also found on clippings of Doan's fingernails, he said.
"I found VX nerve agent precursors on a 'LOL' shirt's sleeve and Siti's sleeve," the expert said.
Existence of the precursor, the chemist explained, confirmed that VX agent was present on the clothing.
VX is outlawed under the Chemical Weapons Convention. It is fatal after 15 minutes, according to the U.S. Army's Edgewood Chemical Biological Center.
Defense lawyers who have attempted to create doubts in the prosecution case were not perturbed with the chemist's findings.
"It was only a single evidence and we are confident that we would be able to replace the doubts (on client) with reasons," Doan's lawyer, Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, told reporters during a break in the hearing.
VX is 'colorless, odorless and tasteless'
The fourth day of the trial saw the prosecution spending about four hours asking more questions of their eighth witness after he was cross-examined by the defense team. Raja discussed the nerve agent's features in pure form and its transportability.
"VX in pure form is colorless, odorless and tasteless," Raja said, adding that it can be "transported easily in a mineral water bottle."
He said if a drop of VX comes into contact with human skin, death can be prevented by performing decontamination within 15 minutes from time of contact. Its lethality depended on the dosage and where on the body it was applied.
"What if a drop of VX came to contact with human skin? What do we need to do to prevent fatal disruption to the nerve system?" prosecutor Wan Shaharuddin asked.
"We have to wash with running water and physical scrubbing for a certain period of time before getting medical assistance," Raja replied.
He also testified that VX gets absorbed into human body faster through the eyes compared to skin including the palm of the hand, which is least sensitive.
Earlier, Raja told the court that chemical tests on Kim Jong Nam's belongings, such as his bag and jacket, also found traces of VX.
Judge Azmi Ariffin ordered the trial to resume Monday at the government's chemical laboratory, allowing attorneys and the defendants to see the VX-tainted samples from the two women. The order came after Raja told the court the VX might still be active and it would be safer to view samples in the lab.
Meanwhile, Wan Shaharuddin told BenarNews the prosecution team still faces an uphill battle despite the chemist's testimony.
"This case still has a long way to go," he said. "As of now, the two girls are innocent until proven guilty."
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Defense lawyer Salim Bashir, attorney for Vietnamese defendant Doan Thi Hoang, shows a photo of the "LOL" shirt worn by his client during a break on the fourth day of trial at the Shah Alam court complex, Oct. 5, 2017. [Fadzil Aziz/BenarNews)]


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BENARNEWS- Authorities in Malaysia's Sabah state said Friday they would press for tougher wildlife laws to battle armed poachers after photos of carcasses of green turtles and Bornean Pygmy elephants were posted online and caught the attention of conservationists.
Sabah, on Borneo island, borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak and Indonesia's Kalimantan province. It is also home to many endemic wildlife species, such as orangutan and rhinoceros.
Last month, villagers said they discovered the skeletal remains of about 100 green turtles scattered on the beaches on Bum-Bum Island near Semporna, a small town in Sabah. Residents also found two decomposed adult Bornean Pygmy elephants in different locations.
Masidi Manjun, Sabah's environment and tourism minister, said his department was considering amending the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997, a regional law that aims to protect endangered species in Sabah by imposing severe penalties on poachers.
The amendment would give wildlife laws more bite by changing the way cases play out in court and placing the burden of proof on the accused to present evidence proving one's innocence.
"With the amendment, it means the accused will have to prove he didn't kill it [the endangered wildlife animal] because at this point of time, the prosecutors have to come up with evidence to prove a person is guilty and this is not easy," Masidi told reporters.
Sabah's Forestry Department said poaching in the state had reached "pandemic proportions" and armed poachers encountered at checkpoints were often masked "and willing and able to inflict harm" on forestry guards.
"Although Forestry Department staff are armed, this is purely for self-protection and they are reluctant to use their licensed firearms against the poachers," the department said in a statement posted on the homepage of its website. "Besides that, it is to avoid a firefight with the poachers which may result in an ugly scene."
"The seriousness of this menace needs a concerted effort in unison, starting with the prosecution of the known and big-time perpetrators," the statement said.
Authorities have arrested and detained at least three people on suspicion of involvement in the multiple slaughter of protected turtles. Officials said poachers would often remove the turtle meat, eggs and soft under shell before leaving the bones and hard-top shell.
Two Indonesian men have also been detained to assist authorities in the killings of the two elephants, officials said.
Endangered and protected
Green turtles and Pygmy elephants are endangered and protected, according to WWF Malaysia, an environmental conservation organization.
The Pygmy elephants are about 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) tall with shorter trunks. They are mostly found in the northeast corner of Sabah.
A wildlife conservationist told BenarNews that during the last three years, 41 Bornean Pygmy elephants had died in Sabah.
"Of these numbers, only nine deaths were due to natural causes," the source said. "The others were illegally killed – either shot dead or poisoned."
The Pygmy elephant's population has dwindled to an estimated 1,300 to 1,500, down from more than 2,000 five years ago, according to Nurzafarina Othman, a conservation officer with the research and training facility Danau Girang Field Center.
"Rapid shrinkage of forest cover and large-scale encroachment on elephant corridors are the main factors behind this escalating problem," she told BenarNews.
Rising ivory prices could be the culprit, she said.
"The black-market price of ivory has skyrocketed from $300 to $1,500 per kilogram in a span of five years," an expert on current prices, who declined to be named, told BenarNews.
Sabah, which has more than 3.5 million residents, has a land area of about 72,500 square km (28,000 square miles). Riddled with wildlife and environmental protection issues, state assembly members unanimously supported a bill allowing several amendments to the 1997 wildlife law.
The new amendments, which took effect in July 2016, have doubled fines from 50,000 ringgit to 100,000 ringgit (U.S. $12,000 to $24,000) and mandatory imprisonment of six months to five years for poaching.
Most abundant species
The endangered green turtle (Penyu Agar to the locals) is the most abundant species in Malaysia. The turtle is either a black-brown or greenish yellow, but is called as such because of the greenish color of its cartilage and fat deposits
In August, Malaysian Customs officers in Sabah seized two containers with ivory and pangolin scales bound for shipment to China. Officials found 1,148 pieces of elephant tusks, as well as five tons of pangolin scales hidden in sacks of ground nuts.
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Wildlife officials said villagers found this badly decomposed pygmy elephant at the Kinabatangan River in Sabah, Sept. 29, 2017.[Courtesy of Sabah Wildlife Department]


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BENARNEWS- The trial of two Southeast Asian women charged with murdering Kim Jong Nam moved temporarily to a high-security lab on Monday for the viewing of defendants' clothes tainted with a nerve agent that killed him.
During the visit defense attorneys questioned the whereabouts of a blazer that Kim was wearing on the day he was murdered.
The second week of the trial began with a trip to Malaysia's Department of Chemistry complex where prosecutors, defense lawyers, the judge and the defendants viewed clothing and other evidence, including T-shirts that tested positive for VX, a deadly nerve agent.
"No, no. There was no blazer. We were informed, but I heard the blazer was sent back to (North) Korea," Naran Singh, who represents Vietnamese suspect Doan Thi Hoang, told reporters.
Doan and Indonesian Siti Aisyah are charged with murdering the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as he waited to board a flight to Macau at a Kuala Lumpur airport on Feb. 13.
Prosecutors said the women, who have pleaded not guilty, smeared VX on Kim's face.
Defense attorneys said they would seek clarification about the blazer when court resumed following the short session on Monday.
"That is what we want to ask about tomorrow," Naran said.
Kim Jong Nam was seen on airport closed-circuit television wearing a light-grey blazer minutes before he was attacked in the airport. He was pronounced dead minutes later.
"The blazer worn by the victim on the day is vital evidence as it contains the maximum concentration of VX," said lawyer Gooi Soon Seng who represents Aisyah, adding the trial would return Tuesday morning to the Shah Alam court near Kuala Lumpur.
Prosecutors told BenarNews that the whereabouts of the blazer would be explained when the trial resumed.
Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin, a deputy public prosecutor, said the next witness, a police officer assigned to probe the case, would testify about the victim's clothing.
"I can't comment now. Wait for the IO (investigating officer) to come in, he will explain where the coat went. He will give his testimony tomorrow," he told BenarNews.
Previous testimony
The visit to the government lab came after government chemist Raja Subramaniam offered the prosecution's first evidence linking the lethal nerve agent to the two defendants by testifying Friday that he had found traces of VX on their clothes.
Aisyah, 25, and Doan, 28, have denied the charges, saying they thought they were playing a harmless prank while being filmed for a hidden-camera TV show.
The murder set off a six-week bilateral diplomatic row that saw Malaysia and North Korea expel their respective ambassadors and impose exit bans on each other's citizens. Prime Minister Najib Razak joined South Korea and the United States in blaming the North Korean government agents for Kim's death.
In late March, Malaysia agreed to return Kim Jong Nam's body to North Korea in exchange for the release of Malaysian embassy staff and their families who had been stranded in Pyongyang as a result of the exit ban that was lifted.
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Police escort Indonesian Siti Aisyah (wearing flowery dress) from the Malaysia's Chemistry Department complex near Kuala Lumpur, Oct. 9, 2017. [Fadzil Aziz/BenarNews]
Trial details
The fifth day of the trial lasted more than an hour on Monday. Judge Azmi Arrifin, the prosecution and defense teams viewed exhibits, including the defendants' clothing and fingernail clippings.
The trial was to resume in court Monday afternoon but had to be postponed until Tuesday morning after Raja, who was to return to the witness stand, complained of exhaustion.
"It was tiring for all of us. It was hot as there was no fresh air," Aisyah lawyer Selvi Sandrasegaram said when asked on the health of the witness.
Elevator video
Meanwhile, Japan's Fuji TV broadcast a video Sunday night that appeared to show Kim Jong Nam on a gurney as medical personnel waited for an elevator to take him to an ambulance, in what could have been final moments of his life, according to the Associated Press (AP).
After the gurney carrying Kim's motionless body was brought into an apparently authorized personnel-only area of the airport for transfer to an ambulance, one of the five people with him summoned the elevator, AP reported.
It took more than a minute to arrive and during that time the attendants, dressed in green uniforms, appeared to talk while one squeezed a resuscitation device strapped to Kim's face. After the elevator doors opened, the group still did not leave for nearly another minute, the report said.


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BENARNEWS- A Filipino doctor arrested on suspicion of funding a foiled terror plot in the United States also sent money to a man involved in the first and only attack claimed by Islamic State (IS) on Malaysian soil, FBI documents show.

Russell Salic, an orthopedic surgeon based in the southern Philippine city of Cagayan de Oro, wired $426 to a man named Jasanizam Bin Rosni in Johor, Malaysia, on June 26, 2016, two days before a grenade blast injured eight patrons at the Movida nightclub in Puchong, according to the FBI. In August 2016, Malaysian authorities arrested Jasanizam, among other suspects, and charged him as a participant in the grenade attack.
Salic, who was arrested in April 2017 in the Philippines, is awaiting extradition to the United States after federal authorities unsealed the charges against him and two men on Friday for allegedly plotting to attack targets in New York City.
Authorities said they thwarted the New York attacks after an undercover FBI agent, posing as an IS supporter, came in contact with the three suspects through electronic messaging apps. The suspects planned to explode bombs and open fire at targets in Times Square and concert venues in the name of the Islamic State during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan last year, prosecutors said.
U.S. court documents obtained by BenarNews said Salic also sent $423 (about 21,650 pesos) from Cagayan de Oro to the undercover agent using his Philippine Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) identification card, which identified him as a physician. It also showed his photograph, officials said.
Salic used the same identification card to wire the money from the same Western Union branch to his Malaysian contact and to the FBI agent in the United States, according to the unsealed court papers.
"I believe that the Malaysian [funds] that Salic sent four days before the Malaysia nightclub attack ... is consistent with [Salic's] statements indicating that he was involved in funding not only the NYC plot, but also the activities of other ISIL supporters in other countries," said FBI Special Agent Cody Haven in an affidavit, referring to IS by another acronym. 

The court documents said Salic sent funds to suspected terrorists in Syria, Australia, Lebanon and Palestine. All money transfers were sent from the same Western Union branch in Cagayan de Oro city. 

Salic faces seven charges, including conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism, which carry penalties of life imprisonment.

In Manila over the weekend, Philippine military chief Gen. Eduardo Año said Salic had been funding suspected terrorists in various countries. 

"He was involved in terror activities by providing funds and donations to suspected terrorists in the Middle East, U.S., and Malaysia from 2014 up to 2016," Año told reporters, according to Rappler, a Philippine news portal.

"He has been under watch and surveillance for his suspicious activities in coordination with allied foreign intelligence agencies," he said.
Mohamad Fuzi Harun, the Malaysian police chief, said his office was probing reports about the 37-year-old Filipino surgeon's alleged involvement in the Malaysian nightclub attack, but said he could not say if the government would seek Salic's extradition.
"We will check and investigate because this is an allegation, very serious matter," Fuzi told Malay Mail Online. "I cannot confirm at this moment." 
"That one is a long process, not an easy process," he said, referring to the extradition. 

8 suspects arrested in Malaysia

As Malaysian authorities were exploring Salic's links to the June 2016 attack at the Movida nightclub, a high-ranking security official told BenarNews on Monday that five of eight terrorism suspects arrested across the country during the last two weeks were based in the eastern state of Sabah and involved in smuggling fighters to the nearby southern Philippines.

The eight suspects were arrested in Sabah, Selangor and Perak states between Sept. 27 and Oct. 6 on suspicion of involvement in terror-related activities. They were arrested under the Security Offenses (Special Measures) Act 2012 (SOSMA), authorities said.
In the first series of arrests, two Malaysians and three Filipinos, including one with Malaysian permanent resident status, were arrested on Sept. 27 in Sabah, on the island of Borneo. They were allegedly involved in helping members of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) enter Malaysia.
"Other than smuggling ASG members [into Malaysia], we believe they are responsible for smuggling terrorists to the southern Philippines, including Marawi, making Malaysia a transit point whether to undergo training or join the Abu Sayyaf Group," a security source told BenarNews. 

ASG, led by Philippine IS chief Isnilon Hapilon, launched an attack on the southern city of Marawi on May 23 and remains entrenched in vicious fighting there that has killed at least 774 militants, 158 government troops and dozens of civilians.
On Oct. 1, 2017 a 35-year-old Albanian, who is a guest lecturer at a local public university, was also detained in Selangor, on suspicion of involvement with militants overseas, police said.
Five days later, police also arrested and detained two suspects who were previously arrested over terror connections in Tapah, Perak. During the past few years, Malaysia has arrested hundreds of people over their alleged links to terror groups.


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BENARNEWS- A CCTV camera filmed one of two Southeast Asian women who are on trial for Kim Jong Nam's murder practicing moves on an unsuspecting person at a Kuala Lumpur area airport two days before the assassination, a Malaysian police investigator testified Tuesday.
Defendants Doan Thi Huang and Siti Aisyah stand accused of accosting the estranged half-brother of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and smearing his face with a deadly chemical, VX nerve agent, at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA 2) on Feb. 13. The two could be sentenced to death, if convicted of murdering Kim Jong Nam.
Wan Azirul Nizam Che Wan Aziz, a senior investigating officer, testified that Doan, a Vietnamese national, was seen on closed-circuit television footage at KLIA 2 on Feb. 11.
"The OKT Doan was seen approaching from behind a member of the public she chose randomly, and smeared something on the person's face," Wan Azirul testified in response to a question from Deputy Public Prosecutor Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin.
OKT is an abbreviation for orang kena tuduh, or the person being accused.
"When the person turned toward her, she made a gesture like apologising, by lowering her head and putting her hands together in front, before walking several steps and turning away," he said.
The ninth witness for the prosecution, Wan Azirul told the Shah Alam court near Kuala Lumpur that Doan appeared to be more relaxed on Feb. 11 than she was when she allegedly attacked Kim Jong Nam at the airport two days later as he was preparing to board a flight to Macau.
When asked about the difference between the Feb. 11 action and the killing on Feb. 13, Wan Azirul testified Doan was "more aggressive toward the deceased.
"The action by OKT was quite aggressive. The other difference is that OKT Doan walked fast," he said, referring to Doan's actions after allegedly accosting Kim.
During opening statements, prosecutors said they aimed to prove that Doan and Indonesian co-defendant Siti Aisyah were involved in a prank along with four others that resulted in the death of Kim Jong Nam. Shortly after the killing, investigators said four North Korean men were seen at the airport, but they fled the country that day, according to Malaysian police.
Doan and Aisyah have claimed in reports that they were duped by some men into thinking they were playing a prank on Kim Jong Nam that was being filmed as part of a reality TV show. The women claimed they did not know they were smearing the deadly nerve agent on his face when they approached him at the airport.
Testifying on the sixth day of the trial, the investigator said 23 DVDs containing CCTV footage were obtained from the airport, of which 22 were from the day Kim Jong Nam died while one was from Feb. 11.
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Senior investigating officer Wan Azirul Nizan Che Wan Aziz, Oct. 10, 2017. (FadzilAziz/BenarNews)
Chemist continues testimony
Earlier, government chemist Raja Subramaniam returned to the stand to testify that an analysis of the victim's skin found traces of VX nerve agent at a higher dose than an amount known to be lethal.
Raja, the head chemist at Chemistry Department's Chemical Weapon Analysis Center, testified that the amount on Kim's skin was 1.4 times higher than the only known lethal dose of the nerve agent. He told the court that the previous lethal dose was based on a case in Osaka, Japan, in 1994.
Raja also said he had been informed that items from the victim, including a blazer, a bag, shoes, jeans, a ring and a watch had been returned to North Korea. Kim Jong Nam's body was sent there six weeks after the fatal attack that led to a political row between the two countries.
On Monday, the defense team raised concerns to reporters about the missing jacket worn by Kim on the day of the fatal attack, following a court session at Raja's lab to view VX-tainted evidence.
"We will ask later why it was handed over to North Korea and under whose instruction," Aisyah lawyer Gooi Soon Seng told reporters.


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BENARNEWS- Investigators found $100,000 in a backpack that Kim Jong Nam carried when he was murdered at a Kuala Lumpur area airport, a police investigator testified Wednesday during the trial of two Southeast Asian women charged in the fatal chemical attack.
Video footage from airport cameras also showed the two women raising their hands and hurrying to separate restrooms after touching Kim's face, police investigator Wan Azirul Nizam Che Wan Aziz said on the witness stand.
Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 25, and Vietnamese Doan Thi Hoang, 28, face murder charges for allegedly rubbing VX nerve agent on Kim, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 on Feb. 13. They could be sentenced to death, if found guilty.
Wan Azirul, the case investigator and a witness for the prosecution, told the Malaysian High Court in Shah Alam, near Kuala Lumpur, that he found 422,294 Malaysian ringgit (about US$100,000) in Kim's backpack during the investigation. The money was in the custody of the police chief of Sepang, the district that has jurisdiction over the case, he said.
"Yes, I found it in his bag," Wan Azirul said, when a prosecutor asked him about the money.
The testimony was the first time that a law enforcement official attached a specific figure to money found amid the murder victim's belongings. In June, Malaysian national police said Kim was carrying an undisclosed amount of cash when he was murdered.
Wan Azirul also testified that his superiors ordered him to return Kim's personal belongings to representatives of the North Korean Embassy. The items included a blazer, bag, shoes and a bracelet, he said.
"I don't know why, I was just following orders," he said.
During his testimony the prosecution played more than 30 videos of airport surveillance-footage. The two defendants appeared calm while the videos were played in the courtroom.
Prosecutors presented the videos six days after a government chemist testified that he found traces of VX, a nerve agent banned by the United Nations, on the clothes of the two women.
The chemist's testimony bolstered the prosecution's contention that the two defendants knew they were handling a highly toxic chemical.
VX can be removed safely by careful hand-washing within 15 minutes of exposure, Raja Subramaniam, the chief chemist at Malaysia's Chemical Weapons and Analysis Center, testified on Oct. 5.
'She knew what she was doing'
Defense lawyers objected to the playing of the videos, saying Wan Azirul did not record the videos himself and was not present during the Feb. 13 murder. That evidence should be considered hearsay, they told the judge, who allowed the presentation to go on.
Wan Azirul said the closed-circuit recording showed Doan, who appeared to be leaving in a hurry after the attack, holding her hands up.
"After she (Doan) made the attack, she left the area of incident hurriedly and the movements of her hands indicated she was uneasy," he said.
"In one instance when she lowered her hands, she tried to keep them from touching her shirt's sleeves. In another instance, she lifted up her hands sideways," he said.
"From my observation, she knew what she was doing albeit being anxious," he said.
Wan Azirul said the videos also showed Siti Aisyah sprinkling water on her hands while descending to the lower floor of the airport building without holding on to the escalator's railing.
Doan's facial expression showed that she was "anxious" during the attack and appeared like she wanted to leave the scene immediately to go to a restroom, the investigator said.
He said the mannerisms of the women changed when they emerged from the restroom.
Doan's hand movements appeared to have returned to normal, although she was still in a hurry, while Siti Aisyah was recorded taking out a scarf from her sling bag and placing it on her shoulder, he said.
He said the two women looked as though they were in a hurry to leave the airport after allegedly attacking Kim.
Wan Azirul said the two women were mostly seen in separate locations, except during the attack and when they were at a taxi-stand later.
Doan could be seen buying a taxi ticket, while Siti Aisyah was handed a taxi ticket by an unidentified man wearing a black cap. The man also met Siti Aisyah at a restaurant near the airport hours before the attack, he said.
"Both (Siti Aisyah and the man) were sitting together and talking and then the man handed a taxi ticket to Siti Aisyah around 8:14 in the morning," Wan Azirul said, adding that the Indonesian and the man were talking in a friendly manner.
During opening statements, prosecutors said they aimed to disprove the claims of the two women that they thought they were involved in a reality TV show prank along with four other people.
Shortly after the killing, the four North Korean men were seen leaving the airport, but they fled the country on the same day, according to Malaysian police.
The trial resumes on Thursday.


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BENARNEWS- Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines on Thursday launched trilateral air patrols to bolster a three-month-old joint maritime effort that aims to rid their shared borders of threats from Islamic State (IS) extremists.
Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein hosted the launch of the Trilateral Air Patrol (TAP) at the Subang Royal Malaysian Air Force Base, where he was joined by his counterparts, Indonesian retired Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu and Delfin Lorenzana of the Philippines. The defense ministers were united in saying the air patrols were crucial to combatting IS in the southern Philippines, especially around the Sulu Sea.
"No country is safe from the clutches of Islamic State. But today we have sent a signal that if you touch any one of us, we will face you head-on together," Hishammuddin told reporters after the launch.
In June, Indonesia hosted Malaysian and Philippine defense leaders in launching the Trilateral Maritime Patrol (TMP).
Hishammuddin said the joint air patrol was an important and positive step and the commitments should be applauded.
"With the region consumed by the growing threat posed by the Islamic State, we need to highlight this arrangement's significance in not just the Sulu Sea, but in the context of challenges in Southeast Asia, more broadly," Hishammuddin said in his speech.
Abdul Aziz Moh Tamit, Brunei's deputy defense minister, and Maliki Osman, Singapore's senior minister of state for Defense and Foreign Affairs, attended Thursday's launch as observers.
Support for military efforts in Marawi
Ryacudu and Lorenzana signalled their governments' commitment to wiping out IS through the air patrols in conjunction with the established sea patrols.
"The Indonesian government is firm that IS should not grow to other Southeast Asian countries and militants in Southern Philippines must be destroyed," Ryacudu told reporters, adding that military leaders from the United States, China and Australia approached him about joining the air patrol.
"But I told them I had to consult ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nation) members," he said.
Hishammuddin said ASEAN defense ministers would be briefed at a meeting scheduled in the Philippines on Oct. 23.
Lorenzana said the air patrol would support the Philippine army in its battle against IS. Troops have been fighting IS-backed militants in the southern city of Marawi since May 23.
"We believe the trilateral air patrol will play an important role in efforts to combat IS and with the presence of the eye in the sky, it will be able to assist the army on land and the navy at sea to act quickly in the event of any threats from militants," he told reporters.
Lorenzana also praised the sea patrols launched in June.
"The effectiveness of the maritime patrols have stopped foreign IS militants trying to enter Southern Philippines, especially in the ongoing fighting in Marawi. IS militants were not able to enter battle areas to supply weapons, which has helped Philippines army to retake Marawi except for few areas where fighting is ongoing," he said.
Rotation established
The three countries will adopt an on-going monthly rotation for the joint air patrols.
Malaysia will be the first nation to lead the operation in November, followed by the Philippines in December, and subsequently Indonesia in January 2018, Hishammuddin told reporters.
Earlier, Malaysian Armed Forces Chief Raja Mohamed Affandi Raja Mohamed Noor told BenarNews that two military transport aircraft, a CN 235 and C130 H, would be used during the patrols.
At the same time, the nations will maintain air patrols within their own borders.
Hishammuddin said the trilateral arrangement was similar to the Malacca Straits Patrol, a joint initiative among Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia in the Straits of Malacca that resulted in a sharp drop in piracy.
"What we are doing in the Sulu Sea is essentially the same thing. While the amount of global trade passing through the Sulu Sea is significantly lower than the amount passing through the Straits of Malacca, it is nonetheless substantial," Hishamuddin said.
"It is estimated that about U.S. $40 billion (169 billion ringgit) worth of goods transit these waters annually. This, combined with cross-border movements of local communities and a porous maritime border, has led to the difficulty of maintaining open and secure shipping links," he said in his speech.


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BENARNEWS- A police investigator testifying Thursday at the Kim Jong Nam murder trial described how, immediately before the killing, two suspects who are still at-large poured liquid on the hands of two defendants accused of smearing the victim's face with a deadly nerve agent.
The suspects are among four men, believed to be North Koreans, who were named by case investigator Wan Azirul Nizam Che Wan Aziz on the eighth day of the trial of Indonesian Siti Aisyah and Vietnamese Doan Thi Hoang, as he testified for the prosecution.
The co-defendants could be sentenced to death, if convicted of murder charges in the fatal chemical attack against the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 on Feb. 13.
Police had identified the four suspects who are at-large as Mr. Chang, James, Mr. Y and Hanamori (alias Grandpa or Uncle), Wan Azirul told the Malaysian High Court in Shah Alam, near Kuala Lumpur.
The four were spotted on airport security videos and identified after investigators questioned the two women, he testified.
Airport surveillance video presented in court showed Doan walking in the airport with a man wearing a baseball cap, while Siti Aisyah was seen meeting separately with another man who also wore a cap at an airport café just before Kim was attacked at the crowded departure terminal.
Wan Azirul identified the two men as Mr. Y and Mr. Chang and said they were believed to have smeared liquid on the women's hands before Aisyah and Doan touched Kim's face.
As court officials played footage taken by airport security cameras, Wan Azirul testified that each of the men seen in the videos had played different roles in the plot, including putting what looked like a liquid substance on the hands of the two women.
"In this video, the accused Doan is walking with a man who is wearing a black cap and bringing a backpack. The man is said to be Mr. Y," he said.
When Prosecutor Wan Shaharuddin asked Wan Azirul what was Mr. Y's role, he replied:
"He is the individual who put liquid onto the hand of the second accused (Doan)."
"He is also the one who bought a taxi ticket for the first accused (Siti Aisyah)," he added.
Wan Azirul testified that Mr. Chang was also seen in the videos pouring liquid on Siti Aisyah's hands.
The investigator did not elaborate on the roles of the two other men in the videos, but said Hanamori gave Mr. Y some instructions, while James recruited Siti Aisyah into the murder plot.
Wan Azirul, the prosecution's ninth witness, did not say whether the four suspects he named were North Koreans or whether they were the same four people who Malaysian police had said left Kuala Lumpur on the day of Kim's killing. He said the names were provided by Doan and Siti Aisyah during the police interview.
At-large
The investigator did not give more details about the four men during his testimony, but Prosecutor Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin told the Associated Press outside the court that the four were believed to be North Koreans.
Early on in their investigation, Malaysian police had named four North Koreans as suspects in the murder. The police identified the four as Rhi Ji Hyon, Hong Song Hak, O Jong Gil and Ri Jae Nam.
On March 16, Interpol issued a "red notice" for the four North Koreans, describing them as suspects in the Malaysian airport murder. The notice alerts police in Interpol's list of 192 member countries, which does not include North Korea, to share information on the suspects.
According to the AP report, police said Chang was in fact Hong Song Hak and James was also known as Ri Ji U. The latter was one of three North Koreans identified by Malaysian police as persons sought for questioning in the murder probe. But they were allowed to return to North Korea along with Kim's body on March 31, as part of a deal that ended a six-week diplomatic row between the two countries following Kim's assassination.
The two defendants told police they were tricked into attacking Kim and thought they were merely playing a prank for a reality TV show.
Gooi Soon Seng, a lawyer representing Aisyah, previously told reporters that she was recruited in early January by a North Korean man known just as James to star in what he said were video prank shows, according to AP. James had her go to malls, hotels and airports and would film her as she rubbed oil or pepper sauce on strangers, paying Aisyah between $100 and $200 per prank.
James later introduced the Indonesian woman to a man called Chang, who said he was the producer of Chinese video-prank shows, AP quoted Aisyah's lawyer as saying. On Feb. 13, Chang pointed Kim out to Aisyah as the next target and put the substance in her hand, the lawyer had said.
The 45-year-old Kim, the eldest son of the late North Korean leader Kim Jon Il, was attacked as he went to check in for a flight to Macau. Witnesses had testified that he immediately sought medical help at the airport but died in an ambulance on the way to the hospital.
In their opening statements at the start of the trial, prosecutors said they aimed to disprove the women's claims that they were duped into playing a prank on Kim and did not know they were smearing a fast-acting poison, VX nerve agent, on his face.


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BENARNEWS- Malaysian police on Friday released a list of 45 foreigners arrested since January for suspected links to the Islamic State (IS) or other terror groups, a marked increase in arrests of alleged "terrorist-fighters" compared with previous years.
The suspects include nationals from as far away as Iraq, Turkey, Albania, Yemen, the Maldives and China as well as from nearby countries including Bangladesh, Indonesia and the Philippines, Police Inspector-General Mohamad Fuzi Harun said in a statement.
Some of these suspects with links to IS, including three Iraqis, were once based in Iraq or Syria, where the extremist group's main strongholds have been losing ground to government offensives, the Malaysian police chief indicated.
"They have been ordered to infiltrate to several countries around the world to launch attacks for Daesh," Fuzi said, using a different term for IS.
He credited cooperation and intelligence sharing with foreign intelligence and enforcement agencies in leading to the arrests.
"The Royal Malaysia Police will continue to take action against foreign terror elements to thwart any planned attacks on Malaysia," Fuzi said.
Those 45 suspects arrested through Oct. 6 include nine Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) members, three from Turkey's Fetullah, one from an Albanian terror cell linked with Islamic State, and another from Bangladesh's Jamaatul Mujahideen, he said.
"The remaining 31 foreign terrorist fighters from multiple countries are believed to be involved with IS, including three Iraqi-national foreign terrorist fighter who are commanders of IS in southern Iraq," he said.
Thirteen were charged under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) and 12 others were deported to their country of origin. Police identified and released photos of the 25.
The three Turks – Turgay Karaman, Ihsan Aslan, and Ismet Ozcelik – were arrested in May on suspicion of threatening Malaysia's national security. Malaysian police said they belonged to the Fetullah group led by a U.S.-based Turkish cleric, Fetullah Gulen, and which Turkey had branded a terrorist organization.
International human rights groups later deplored Malaysia's decision to deport the trio back to Turkey, saying that their lives would be put in danger.
Regarding the other 20 suspects, Fuzi said one was detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, seven were released and 12 others were under police investigation.
The number of foreigners detained during the first nine months of 2017 reflects a significant increase over detainees from 2013 to 2016, according to information from police counter-terrorist special branch chief Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay at the end of last year.
At the time, Ayob said 264 militants were arrested over a four-year period, but only 34 were foreigners.
Terror plot foiled
Among the foreign militant suspects picked up in Malaysia in 2017 was Hajar Abdul Mubin, 25, (alias Abu Asrie), a Filipino and alleged mastermind of a foiled terror plot against the Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur in August.
Hajar, who has been identified by the Philippine military as the right-hand man of a senior leader of ASG, was charged Sept. 25 on suspicion of being a member of a terrorist group along with three other ASG suspects, according to court documents.
Also on Friday, Fuzi confirmed that counter-terrorism police officers arrested several people in the state of Kelantan this week on suspicion of having terrorist links, including an alleged  teenage bombmaker.
"It is too early to reveal any details but I will release a statement in the next two to three days," he said.
Meanwhile, the Malaysian Home Ministry on Friday said it was investigating security firms regarding the possibility of militants working as guards, the Home Ministry Secretary General Alwi Ibrahim said in a statement.
"If investigations find they were complacent in vetting their future employees, among other actions, their licenses would be revoked," he said commenting on the Sept. 14 arrests of seven suspected ASG militants who were working as security guards in the Klang Valley.
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Police released photos of 12 suspected foreigners who have been deported from Malaysia on suspicion of terrorist activities. (Courtesy of Royal Malaysian police)


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BENARNEWS- Malaysian university professor-turned-militant Mahmud Ahmad likely will take over as head of the Islamic State (IS) Southeast Asia affiliate following the killing of Filipino Isnilon Hapilon in the southern Philippine city of Marawi, Malaysia's police chief told BenarNews on Monday.
Mahmud was among planners of the deadly siege of Marawi launched by IS-inspired militants in May, and is believed to be leading a dwindling enemy force there after the death of Hapilon, according to Inspector General of Police Mohamad Fuzi Harun.
"From information we have, Dr. Mahmud is still alive. He survived the attack," Fuzi told BenarNews.
A second militant leader, Omarkhayam Maute, was killed with Hapilon in a predawn clash in Marawi on Monday, Philippine military officials confirmed. Hapilon, a leader of the southern Philippine militant group Abu Sayyaf (ASG), which is notorious for taking people hostage for ransom, became chief of IS's regional branch last year.
Mahmud, 39, has been described as the "money man" who financed the ongoing Marawi attack and trained at al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan in the 1990s while studying at Islamabad Islamic University. He is a former lecturer of Islamic studies at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, one of Malaysia's top universities.
"What we gathered so far showed that he would most likely be the next leader with the deaths of Hapilon and Maute. He will be taking over the leadership," Fuzi said.
In July, the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC), a Jakarta think-tank, said in a report that Mahmud likely would assume a top role because of his position within the IS chain of command.
"Dr. Mahmud appears to be senior to anyone operating in Indonesia, meaning whatever the inter-group frictions, all recognize a chain of command within the ISIS hierarchy that they are obliged to obey by virtue of their oath," according to the IPAC report, "Marawi, the 'East Asia Wilayah' and Indonesia," which referred to Islamic State by another acronym.
"This suggests that after Marawi is finally cleared, Dr. Mahmud, if he survives, could play a critical role both in terms of regrouping in the Philippines as well as coordinating return and placement of Southeast Asian fighters from the Middle East and setting a regional strategy for further attacks," IPAC said.
Multi-skilled
In June, a Malaysian official who asked to remain anonymous, told BenarNews that Mahmud was among the most skilled militants who could take over for Hapilon.
Additionally, Mahmud knew secret escape routes from the southern Philippines, according to the official.
"Besides being a bomb expert and a seaman, Mahmud is also very proficient in the dialects used by the Philippines militants, apart from the other languages he has mastered such as Malay, English and Arabic," the official said then.
Rohan Gunaratna, a Singapore-based expert on terrorism in Southeast Asia and a BenarNews columnist, said Mahmud had grand plans for the region.
"Mahmud planned to develop the eastern Malaysian state of Sabah as a transit point for South Asian and Southeast Asian recruits to train and fight in the Philippines," Gunaratna wrote in a June column.
Along with funding the militants in Marawi, Mahmud was responsible for recruiting foreign fighters. IPAC described him as having a "one door" policy of creating a single channel to send foreign fighters to join the militants.
"It wasn't just Indonesians and Malaysians contacting Dr. Mahmud ... he was also the contact for Bangladeshis in Malaysia who wanted to join the fighting in Mindanao," IPAC director Sidney Jones told Reuters.
High alert
Now, Malaysian authorities especially in the eastern Borneo state of Sabah, a state bordering the southern Philippines, are on high alert guarding against the possibility that Mahmud could try to flee Marawi and return to Malaysia.
"We are monitoring because he is a threat to our security," Fuzi told Benar.
A senior intelligence officer from Malaysia's Eastern Sabah Security Command said the deaths of Hapilon and Maute would not affect ongoing operations.
"To us, it only means a cross-border criminal has been eliminated, if the reports are true. But this does not mean we can let our guard down as usually another leader crops up to take over," the official, who declined to be named, told BenarNews.
In the nearby southern Philippines, Abu Sayyaf has been "quiet" on kidnappings lately as members battle the Philippine military in Marawi, but other ASG commanders who were not involved may turn to Sabah to replenish funding, the official said.
Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines joined forces this year in launching coordinated sea and air patrols to stop ASG from kidnapping boat crews and holding sailors for ransom.
"This happens when they are in need of money to buy weapons. So we cannot afford to relax," the official said.
Colin Forsythe in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, and BenarNews staff in Manila and Marawi, Philippines, contributed to this report.


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BENARNEWS- Malaysian authorities on Tuesday said the three men detained last week for their alleged links with the Islamic State (IS) had planned to detonate a homemade bomb during a beer festival that event organizers said could have attracted thousands of people.
Inspector General of Police Mohamad Fuzi Harun told reporters that counter-terror officials had seized an improvised explosive device (IED) during a raid in northeastern Kelantan state on Oct. 10.
The IED, weighing about 1.3 pounds, contained ball bearings compacted in a PVC pipe and could have injured or killed people within a blast radius of 30 meters (98 feet), Fuzi said.
"The device could have caused many deaths if it had exploded at the beer festival," he said.
Police arrested a former soldier, a building contractor and a 19-year-old student with alleged IS links during the raids, Fuzi said.
The Better Beer Festival scheduled from Oct. 6 to 7 at a shopping center in Kuala Lumpur was cancelled last month following objections from Muslim groups who claimed the event would encourage immorality and lead to criminal acts.
About 250 craft beers from dozens of breweries worldwide was scheduled to be showcased during the event that was expected to attract 6,000 people, according to the event's organizers.
Fuzi said the suspects were also targeting other locations in the country, including Malaysia's iconic Twin Towers, non-Muslim houses of worship and entertainment outlets in Kuala Lumpur, the nation's capital, and Selangor state. He did not provide details.
During the past four years, Malaysian authorities have arrested about 350 people suspected of having links to terror groups, including IS. Sixty-six of those suspects have been freed, according to government figures compiled by BenarNews.

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Malaysian police released this drawing about constructing an improvised explosive device that was seized from one of the suspects during the raid, Oct. 17, 2017. N. Nantha/BenarNews

Bomb tests
Prior to their arrests, the suspects tested two IEDs on Sept. 28 and another a few days later at an open field near the 19-year-old's house, Fuzi said.
"One exploded, while another malfunctioned," Fuzi said.
He said the 35-year-old former soldier collected money from sympathizers to finance the cost of building the IEDs, while the 25-year-old construction contractor had links to the Gagak Hitam (Black Crows) gang believed responsible for the grenade attack at a nightclub in Puchong, Selangor, near Kuala Lumpur, last year.
The grenade blast, the country's first successful attack attributed to the IS, injured eight people.
Fuzi said the building contractor had links with Muhammad Wanndy Mohamad Jedi, a leading Southeast Asian recruiter for IS who was killed in a drone attack on April 29 in Syria, 10 months after he allegedly orchestrated the nightclub attack.
He said the latest arrests brought to nine the number of foiled bomb plots since 2013.
Developing into a 'Dr. Azhari'
The teen's ability to understand the intricate details in building the explosive had reminded Malaysian investigators of Dr. Azahari Husin, a bomb expert who was believed to be the technical mastermind behind the October 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.
Azahari, who received his bomb training in Afghanistan, was killed in 2005 during a police raid at his hideout in Kota Batu, Indonesia.
"Looking at how detailed was his drawing, it reminded the authorities of Dr. Azahari," a source close to the investigation told BenarNews.
The 19-year-old, who attended a Form Six school in Pasir Puteh, Kelantan, spent hours learning how to make a bomb on YouTube, the source said.
"He is smart. He knew what to look for," said the source, referring to the teen's online research skills.
The teen also spent time putting his ideas in writing and drawing the mechanics behind an IED.
"He is meticulous," the source said. "The way the device was built showed that he knows the mechanics of the device well."
According to the source, the teen displayed weird behavior at the school, but his teachers failed to notice. He also refused to participate in some school activities.
"He drew things about war, he told his friends about wanting to jihad [holy war] and also refused to sing the national anthem and kept his index finger up as a sign of his obedient only to God," said the source.
If the teen's activities were not uncovered, he would probably turn into a bomb expert, the source said.
"By the looks of it, give him two to three more years and he might become the next Dr. Azahari," the source said.
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Malaysian anti-terror officers prepare to arrest the suspects inside a restaurant in Kelantan state, Oct. 10, 2017. [Courtesy of Malaysian Police]
Updated to add comments from a BenarNews source about the teen suspect.


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BENARNEWS- The first witness at Malaysia human rights commission's public inquiry into the disappearance of four people, including three members of the Christian minority, said an inspector told him that one abduction looked like a police operation.
Malaysian police have confirmed that Pastor Raymond Koh Keng Joo was abducted in February, but classified the others as "missing people." The other cases dating to November 2016 involve husband-and-wife Christian clerics and a Muslim activist.
Koh was abducted on a road in a Kuala Lumpur suburb on Feb. 13. It occurred in broad daylight as a CCTV camera filmed some SUVs and motorcycles surrounding his car, forcing him to stop before he was taken away. His car has not been found.
The only witness on Thursday, the first of the 10-day day proceeding, said an officer remarked that the method of abduction he had witnessed was a "police operation."
Roeshan Celestine Gomez, who claimed he witnessed Koh's abduction, told the inquiry that the statement came from an investigating officer at the Kelana Jaya police station, where he lodged a report. He later identified the officer as Inspector Ali Asra.
"I had asked the police officer if the scene I described looked more like a kidnapping, but he told us not to worry as it looked very much like the modus operandi of a police operation," said Gomez, a student at the time who has since graduated from law school.
Gomez said the officer told him that the incident happened quickly and in broad daylight. The presence of an individual recording the incident also fits in with a police operation.
The commission's inquiry into the disappearances of Koh, Pastor Joshua Hilmi and his wife, Ruth Sitepu, and social activist Amri Che Mat is being held under the Human Rights Commission Malaysia Act.
The inquiry is led by Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) commissioners Mah Weng Kai, Aishah Bidin and Nik Salida Suhaila, while lawyers representing family members of the four are attending as observers.
The inquiry began with Weng Kai, the chairman and a former judge in Malaysia's second highest court, informing attendees it was not a court trial, but he intends to release a report once finished.
"The idea is to arrive at truth and justice," he said.
The fact-finding panel aims to determine whether these cases were involuntary disappearances in breach of the nation's criminal and civil law.
It would also identify individuals or agencies responsible for such alleged breaches and find out whether police officials have taken adequate steps to investigate the cases, SUHAKAM said in a statement.
CCTV footage corroborates witness
CCTV footage from two nearby houses showed at least three black SUVs were involved in the abduction. Gomez told the inquiry he was driving with a friend behind Pastor Koh's car when the abduction occurred.
"My friend raised her phone to record the incident, but a man came up in front of us and gestured to us not to," he said.
Gomez said he left after the man made hand signals for him to back his car away from the SUVs. Three motorcyclists were also circling the area at the time, he said.
He confirmed that CCTV footage captured what he had witnessed.
Koh's non-governmental organization, Harapan Komuniti (Hope Community), was investigated by Islamic authorities in 2011 over allegations it hosted a party with Muslim attendees at a church, according to reports.
The missing pastor was the target of allegations he had tried to convert Muslim youths to Christianity, which is considered a crime in Malaysia.
Koh's wife, Susanna Liew, said she was scheduled to speak to the inquiry on Friday.
Social activist disappeared
Amri, a social activist, co-founder of a local NGO and resident of the state of Perlis, was last seen on Nov. 24, 2016. His disappearance may have been religiously motivated based on allegations he was spreading Shia Muslim teachings, which are frowned upon in the Sunni Muslim-majority country, according to local media reports.
Witnesses reported seeing five vehicles block the path of his jeep, which was found empty, its windshield smashed and parked near a local dam.
On Nov. 30, 2016, Hilmi and his wife, Ruth, both Christian preachers, were last seen at their home in Selangor state. A missing-person report, however, was not filed until March 6, officials said.
Blog postings claim the couple had been Muslims before becoming Christians and converted others to the religion.
More than 60 percent of Malaysia's 19.5 million citizens are Muslims.
At least 15 people, including former police Inspector-General Khalid Abu Bakar, have been subpoenaed by the inquiry and 35 people, including family members and police, have been interviewed.


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BENARNEWS- Malaysia and North Korea will play their Asian Cup qualifying match at a neutral venue next month after the Pyongyang leg was postponed three times because of bilateral tensions and security concerns, the region's football governing body said Friday.
The venue for the two-part qualifier, scheduled for Nov. 10 and Nov. 13, will be played at a yet to be determined neutral pitch in Asia, a senior Asian Football Confederation (AFC) official told BenarNews.
"We are discussing with several countries to be the host. Hopefully, next week, we will get an answer. Among the countries being discussed are [countries] from Southeast Asia, and China," Windsor Paul John, general secretary of the Kuala Lumpur-based AFC, said on Friday night.
In late September, the Pyongyang match was postponed a third time when the Malaysian government banned all of citizens, including the national football team, from travelling to North Korea. In justifying the ban, Kuala Lumpur cited heightened nuclear tensions on the Korean Peninsula and other developments related to intercontinental ballistic-missile tests conducted by North Korea.
In a statement issued earlier on Friday, the AFC announced that North Korea would represent the "home" side for the Nov. 10 match and the "visiting" side in the second leg three days later. Both nations will be vying for a berth in the 2019 Asian Cup tournament in the United Arab Emirates.
"The original match day 1 fixture had been postponed firstly because of raised political tensions between Malaysia and DPR Korea and subsequently because of a ban by the Malaysian Government on its citizens travelling to DPR Korea," the sport's regional body said. "In the interests of competition fairness, it has been decided that both matches between the two countries will be played at the same neutral venue ...."
"The order of matches has been maintained as the previously announced sequence to protect the sporting integrity of the competition," the statement said, adding that the football associations of the two counties had agreed to this arrangement.
Thrice delayed
The match in Pyongyang had also been postponed because of diplomatic tensions that arose between Malaysia and North Korea over the Feb. 13 assassination of Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, in a chemical weapon attack at a Kuala Lumpur area airport. Two Southeast Asian women – an Indonesian and a Vietnamese – are standing trial in Malaysia for the murder.
In March, the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) cited security concerns when it announced that the national team was pulling out of the match in Pyongyang, originally scheduled for March 28. At the time, FAM officials asked the Asian Football Confederation to find a neutral venue for the match.
When the confederation announced in May that the match would be played in Pyongyang on June 8, despite the Malaysian request, the president of FAM expressed fears that players and coaches from the national team could be exposed to the possibility of food poisoning by sabotage if they went to North Korea.
The AFC then postponed the match till Oct. 5. It was again postponed – though indefinitely – after the Malaysian foreign ministry, on Sept. 28, banned its citizens from traveling to North Korea over regional security tensions.
Fadzil Aziz contributed to the report.


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BENARNEWS- The family of a Christian pastor who was abducted eight months ago lived in such fear that they considered emigrating to Australia, but he decided to stay in Malaysia, his tearful wife told a fact-finding panel on Friday.
Pastor Raymond Koh Keng Joo, 62, was snatched by a group of men in broad daylight on the morning of Feb. 13, when they forced his car to a stop as it exited a highway in Petaling Jaya, near Kuala Lumpur. Koh, a member of Malaysia's Christian minority, has been missing ever since.
His wife, Susanna Liew, said the family had been living in fear of death threats since 2011, when an NGO headed by Koh was accused of trying to convert Muslim youths to Christianity, an act that is considered illegal in Malaysia. Their troubles began when officers with the Islamic Religious Department in Selangor state raided a Thanksgiving dinner hosted by Koh and attended by Muslims.
"I thought about migrating to Australia but my husband loves this country. He wanted to stay in Malaysia," Liew told a three-man panel set up by the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam), a government body.
The mysterious circumstances behind Koh's disappearance led to a media blitz that eventually brought to light more alleged cases of enforced disappearances, a term used to describe abductions involving law-enforcement authorities.
The publicity prompted the Malaysian Bar Association, the country's most respected group representing lawyers, to issue a strongly worded statement back in April that called on the authorities to investigate the cases thoroughly.
"It is shocking and outrageous that a growing number of Malaysians could inexplicably disappear and not be found for days, weeks and months. This has never happened before in this country, to the best of our knowledge, and has led to public perception and speculation of the occurrence of forced disappearances," the association said at the time.
The panel appointed by Suhakam is probing allegations that Koh and three other people were victims of such enforced disappearances. This week, the panel opened a 10-day public inquiry into the cases.
On Thursday, the first day of the hearings, Suhakam commissioner Mah Weng Kwai emphasized that the probe panel was neither a criminal nor civil trial.
"The whole idea is to arrive at truth and justice," Mah told panel members.
Kidnapped in daylight
Police officials have confirmed that Koh was abducted, but they cautiously used the term "missing people" to classify the other cases that took place separately in 2016.
Koh's abduction was captured by a security camera that filmed several SUVs and motorcycles surrounding his car, forcing him to stop before he was taken away. His car has not been found.
Koh led a Kuala Lumpur-based nongovernmental organization, called Harapan Komuniti (Hope Community), which performs charity work in poor communities.
In 2011, Islamic authorities investigated Koh's NGO over allegations that it hosted a Thanksgiving dinner with Muslim attendees at a church, according to newspaper reports.
The Islamic probe took place after published accusations that he had tried to convert Muslim youths to Christianity when his group hosted a party at a church in the Muslim-majority country that considers apostasy a criminal offense.
But on Friday, Koh's wife said he had repeatedly told his NGO volunteers to abstain from preaching any religious message.
"Raymond specifically told volunteers during their orientation not to preach, never to talk about religion," she replied when asked whether the NGO had any intention to spread or preach Christianity.
"This warning was given verbally and all activities there were inclusive and included all races and there was no intention to preach any religion," Liew said.
The NGO ran a variety of programs that helped prison inmates and people with HIV/AIDS, regardless of their religious background, she said.
'They asked if there were Muslims'
Liew, 61, said she was at the Thanksgiving dinner with her husband in August 2011 when about 50 law-enforcement officers, including religious authorities, entered the church.
"We asked about a warrant but they said they don't need one because there was a complaint," she said. "They just rushed in without any permission at a private function and started recording."
Liew said an officer from the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS) told her that they had received reports about the presence of Muslims at the event.
"They asked if there were Muslims, and yes there were because there were stakeholders and supporters, the people whom we helped, volunteers and other donors," she said.
After the raid, 12 Muslims were asked to appear before JAIS for questioning, Liew told the panel, led by commissioners Mah Weng Kai, Aishah Bidin and Nik Salida Suhaila.
The incident, according to Liew, brought negative publicity to her family and led to death threats.
"We had people taking photos of us like paparazzi and then they would get into cars and started following us," she said.
On Aug. 26, 2011, Koh filed a police report after receiving a package with two bullets in a small box that also contained sheets of paper printed with death threats written in red ink, she said.
Blog postings claim the couple had been Muslims before becoming Christians and that they converted others to the religion.
Liew told the inquiry that she was terrified and urged her husband to leave the country.
"Photos of me and my husband, of our house, our address are all posted on the Internet with messages for people to take action against us," she said.
Other cases
Koh's disappearance at first appeared to be an isolated case of kidnapping, but as the case gained publicity, more reports of missing Malaysians came out, including that of social activist Amri Che Mat, Pastor Joshua Hilmi and his wife, Ruth Sitepu,
Amri, co-founder of a local NGO, was allegedly abducted from his car on Nov. 24, 2016, in the northern state of Perlis. His wife has denied allegations that he was spreading Shia Muslim teachings, which are frowned upon in Sunni Muslim-majority Malaysia.
Hilmi and Ruth, both Christian preachers, were last seen on Nov. 30 at their home in Selangor state. A missing-person report, however, was not filed until March 6, officials said.
The panel has subpoenaed at least 15 people, including former police Inspector-General Khalid Abu Bakar, and interviewed 35 people.
The first witness during the 10-day public inquiry that began on Thursday said a police inspector had told him that Koh's abduction happened swiftly and looked like a police operation.
Koh's abduction took place in just under a minute and was witnessed by other drivers who later filed police reports.


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BENARNEWS- There is no case against a financier close to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak who was named in American lawsuits that seek to recover more than $1 billion in assets tied to the troubled sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, the country's deputy prime minister said Monday.
Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told parliament that police had sought Interpol's support in locating Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho (alias Jho Low). Zahid also issued a statement saying the Malaysian investigation against the financier was closed and an Interpol search was no longer necessary.
"We are very confident that Interpol has acted professionally and police have yet to receive any detailed information," Zahid told members of parliament.
"But we are confident that whatever has been done ... especially by intelligence agencies, has been concluded and we are confident the case is no longer relevant."
Low has been named in U.S. court documents in which the United States Justice Department claims that about $4.5 billion was misappropriated from the state fund known as 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). Najib was not named in the lawsuits but has been identified as "Malaysian Official 1" by a U.S. government source.
Najib has denied any wrongdoing regarding 1MDB.
Low's name appeared in court documents tied to 1MDB that were filed in 2016 and 2017. The original lawsuits seek the forfeiture of a jet, penthouses and condominiums in New York City, properties in Beverly Hills, Calif., including a mansion, artwork by Vincent Van Gogh and paintings by Claude Monet.
More recently, U.S. court documents filed in August alleged that 1MDB officials and others had arranged for the fraudulent transfer of more than U.S. $1 billion to a Swiss bank account held in the name of Good Star Limited under the pretense of investing in a joint venture with PetroSaudi International, a private Saudi mineral extraction company.
"That Good Star account was not owned by PetroSaudi or the joint venture, but by Low Taek Jho (alias Jho Low), a Malaysian who had no formal position with 1MDB, but who was involved in its creation and exercised significant control over its dealings," the court document stated.
Other countries including Singapore, Switzerland and Luxembourg are investigating how the 1MDB funds were allegedly diverted.
Low could not be reached for comment on Monday but has denied breaking any laws linked to 1MDB.


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BENARNEWS- Thailand will host an Asian Cup qualifying match between Malaysia and North Korea next month, Asia's football governing body announced on Tuesday, after the match was postponed three times over a diplomatic row and security concerns.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said in a statement that it had picked Thailand to serve as a neutral venue for the two-part qualifier, scheduled for Nov. 10 and Nov. 13, but it had yet to confirm an exact venue and kick-off times.
"We are extremely grateful for the continued support by the Football Association of Thailand in agreeing to play host for these two matches," AFC General Secretary Windsor Paul John said in the statement.
The first leg of the match was originally scheduled for March 28 in Pyongyang, but it was postponed repeatedly as a result of a diplomatic clash between Malaysia and North Korea following the Feb. 13 assassination of Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, at a Kuala Lumpur area airport.
The Pyongyang leg was postponed a third time in late September after Malaysia banned its citizens from travelling to the North Korean capital, citing heightened security concerns on the Korean Peninsula.
In Tuesday's statement, the AFC said that the Thai Football Association confirmed its willingness to serve as a neutral host Malaysia and North Korea, which will be vying for a berth in the 2019 Asian Cup tournament in the United Arab Emirates.
The AFC said North Korea would represent the "home" side for the Nov. 10 match and the "visiting" side in the second leg three days later.
Hamidin Mohd. Amin, Malaysia's Football Association (FAM) secretary-general, told BenarNews on Tuesday that choosing Thailand as event host was the best decision for the two nations playing in the two-part qualifier.
"Thailand is close to Malaysia and North Korea plus the weather and condition of the pitch is pretty similar to both countries," he said.


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BENARNEWS- One of two Southeast Asian women accused of killing Kim Jong Nam broke down in tears Tuesday as they visited a Kuala Lumpur area airport where the murder occurred, and where their trial was relocated temporarily under a heavy police presence.
The defendants, Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 25, and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, 28, were brought to Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 in body-armor vests and handcuffs. They appeared calm in the beginning, but had to be given wheelchairs when they complained of exhaustion after standing for too long, Aisyah's lawyer said.
"They were made to wear heavy bulletproof vests and had to walk close to three hours. They are tired. So, we requested that our clients be given wheelchairs," defense attorney Gooi Soon Seng said.
Aisyah became emotional and was seen sobbing about an hour into the airport tour.
More than 200 police officers, many in full-battle gear, provided security as the judge, prosecutors, defense lawyers and the defendants toured the Kuala Lumpur Airport 2 to get a clear perspective of how the Feb. 13 killing unfolded.
The court's visit on the ninth day of the trial aimed to give Judge Azmi Ariffin a clearer view of what took place on Feb. 13, when the two women allegedly smeared the VX nerve agent on the face of the half-brother of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
"The whole purpose is for us, especially for the court, to have a better understanding of all the layout, about the case, especially the route of the accused, deceased and everything," lead prosecutor Muhammad Iskandar Ahmad told reporters after the tour ended.
The visit turned chaotic as TV news crews and reporters pursued the two women around the terminal and armed police stopped them from getting too close.
The two defendants face the death penalty, if convicted. They have pleaded not guilty to murder, saying they were tricked into attacking Kim and thought they were playing a prank for a reality TV show.
Malaysia, South Korea and the United States had linked Kim Jong Un's regime to the murder that strained almost four decades of diplomatic ties between Kuala Lumpur and Pyongyang, which has denied involvement in the killing.
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Police officers guard Vietnamese Doan Thi Hoang at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2, Oct. 24, 2017. [Fadzil Aziz/BenarNews]
Closely watched
During Tuesday's tour, the two women were first taken to the self check-in area at the airport's departure hall, where Kim Jong Nam was attacked. Then they were taken to a café inside the terminal where Siti Aisyah was recorded on CCTV meeting a man, identified by investigators as Mr. Chang, who allegedly poured liquid on her hand before the attack.
Mr. Chang was among four men identified by case investigator Wan Azirul Nizam Che Wan Aziz during his Oct. 12 testimony at the Malaysian High Court in Shah Alam, near Kuala Lumpur.
The four, who are at large and believed to be North Koreans, are accused in the charge sheet of committing the murder along with the two women. The three others are known as James, Mr. Y and Hanamori (alias Grandpa or Uncle), Wan Azirul told the court.
The trial is being closely watched by the Vietnamese and Indonesian governments, which have hired lawyers to defend the women. Their lawyers claim they were scapegoats and victims of an elaborate trick involving the four men.
The tour also included a visit to the toilets allegedly used by the suspects after the assault, a medical clinic where the victim was taken, and the taxi area where both suspects allegedly ran to afterward.
Kim Jong Nam, the eldest son of former North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il, was attacked as he prepared to board a flight to Macau, where he lived. His assassination was captured on airport security cameras.
The trial is expected to resume Wednesday. The court so far has heard testimony from 13 prosecution witnesses, including forensic pathologists, chemists and police photographers.
 


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BENARNEWS- Malaysian authorities did not have enough information to arrest four men considered as suspects in the assassination of the North Korean leader's half-brother at a Kuala Lumpur airport on Feb. 13, a police investigator assigned to the case testified Wednesday. 

The four, who remain at large, are believed to be North Koreans. Their aliases and nicknames appear in the charge sheet as defendants, along with Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 25, and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, 28, who are standing trial for the murder of Kim Jong Nam.

"The four suspects were yet to be arrested by police due to insufficient information about them," Wan Azirul Nizam Che Wan Aziz, a police investigator and witness called by the prosecution testified. "As a result of my investigation, I could only obtain their nicknames, and there were no further details like passport number or their phone numbers."
Kim, the eldest son of former North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il and the estranged sibling of Pyongyang's current leader, Kim Jong Un, was fatally attacked with the nerve agent VX as he prepared to board a flight to Macau, Malaysian police said. His killing was captured on security cameras at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA2).
Wan Azirul Nizam Che Wan Aziz had identified the four male suspects shown in CCTV footage as Mr. Chang, Mr. Y, James and Hanamori (alias Grandpa or Uncle) during his earlier testimony before the court on Oct. 12.

During Wednesday's deliberations at the Shah Alam High Court near Kuala Lumpur, the prosecution questioned him on why the four male suspects had not been taken into custody, although they were jointly charged with the two female defendants.

Wan Azirul said Malaysian law-enforcement had tried to locate the four men by coordinating with Interpol.

All four men were spotted on airport security videos and identified after investigators questioned the two women, Wan Azirul had testified earlier on.

Surveillance videos presented by the prosecution earlier in court showed the two women separately meeting two men at the airport who wore baseball caps, before the attack on Kim was carried out in the crowded departure terminal at KLIA2. 

Prosecutors accuse the four men of intending to kill Kim, along with the two women who were seen with the two men who allegedly put liquid on the women's hands before Kim was attacked.

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Wan Azirul Nizam Che Wan Aziz (left), case investigator in the murder of Kim Jong Nam, leaves the High Court in Shah Alam, near Kuala Lumpur, after testifying for the prosecution, Oct. 25, 2017. [Hadi Azmi / BenarNews] BenarNews

 
Prosecution intends to show videos of 2 men 

Also on Wednesday, lead prosecutor Muhammad Iskandar Ahmad told reporters that his team would show security videos of the two other male suspects on Thursday. 

"Perhaps tomorrow, we will show to the court who are the two. In fact, if you followed this, we have shown Y (Mr. Y) and Chang (Mr. Chang). So perhaps tomorrow we will show another two suspects who are still at-large," he said.

The prosecution's case would not be weakened by the absence of the four men from the trial, the prosecutor argued. 

"It caused no harm to our case," he said, adding that the four men were being tried in absentia and charged under the legal principle of common intent. 

Prank claims

The two Southeast Asian women have pleaded not guilty to murder, saying they were tricked into attacking Kim by being made to think that they were playing a prank for a reality TV show. The defendants face the death penalty, if convicted.

Defense lawyers claim the Southeast Asian women were scapegoats and victims of an elaborate trick involving the four men. 

Wan Azirul also testified on Wednesday that there were no CCTV videos to bolster statements from the women claiming that they carried out rehearsals in five areas outside the airport.
Defense lawyer Gooi Soon Seng told reporters before the trial that his client, Aisyah, was recruited in early January by a North Korean man known to her only as James to star in hidden-camera prank shows.
He said James and Aisyah went to malls, hotels and airports, where she would rub oil or pepper sauce on strangers. James video-recorded the encounters on his phone, and paid Aisyah between $100 and $200 for each one, he said.
"Checks on CCTV recordings at three of the locations did not find any footage of the women, while police could not obtain footages from two others, as one only stored data for seven days, while the other did not have recordings on the said date as they were having their CCTV system upgraded," Wan Azirul said. 

Two of the places are hotels in Kuala Lumpur, one is the KLCC shopping complex, and two others areas are at the Kuala Lumpur Central railway station, he said. 

On Oct. 10, Wan Azirul testified that one of the defendants, Doan, was filmed by a CCTV camera at the airport practicing moves on a random person similar to ones that were captured on film during the attack on Kim.

The trial is scheduled to resume Thursday. The court so far has heard testimony from 13 prosecution witnesses, including forensic pathologists, chemists and police photographers.


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BENARNEWS- Four men considered suspects in the assassination of the half-brother of North Korea's leader at a Kuala Lumpur airport were caught on security cameras there changing clothes and their appearance before fleeing, an investigator testified Thursday.
Testifying in the murder trial of Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 25, and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, 28, police investigator Wan Azirul Nizam Che Wan Aziz said one of the men, known as "Hanamori," led the killing of Kim Jong Nam at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA 2) on Feb. 13.
"The investigation revealed that suspect Hanamori played the role as mastermind of the incident," Wan Azirul testified at the Shah Alam High Court, near Kuala Lumpur.
Wan Azirul, who is attached to Sepang district police headquarters, also testified that one of the men known only as "Mr. Chang" had shaved his beard after the incident at KLIA 2.
The four men who remain at large are believed to be North Koreans. They are named as defendants along with Siti Aisyah and Doan.
"Hanamori" had arrived at the airport in the same vehicle with "Mr. Chang" and a third suspect, "Mr. Y," 90 minutes before the attack, the investigator told the court.
"Hanamori even had Mr. Chang and Mr. Y meet him later at Bibik Heritage Restaurant," the investigator said, adding that he also met the fourth suspect, identified as "James," at the same café before the attack.
Siti Aisyah and Doan have pleaded not guilty, saying they were tricked into attacking Kim Jong Nam as part of a reality TV prank. Defense lawyers claim they were scapegoats and victims of an elaborate trick involving the four men.
The two women face the death penalty if convicted of charges that they murdered Kim, the estranged sibling of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, by smearing deadly VX nerve agent on his face.
Previously, the court viewed footage of the women allegedly attacking Kim Jong Nam before heading to separate restrooms and fleeing the airport.
Wan Azirul said Mr. Chang was seen donning a grey hooded shirt, a pair of black shoes with white stripes and a pair of black-framed glasses before meeting Hanamori at the café at 7:49 a.m. Mr. Chang still had a beard and moustache and was holding a white plastic bag.
"This image of a guy, who is wearing a purple shirt, is Hanamori at 7:49 a.m.," the investigator testified. "What I want to show in this video is that after Mr. Chang met Hanamori in Bibik Heritage and had a brief conversation, Mr Chang took a black Adidas cap and wore it. Before he went to meet Hanamori, he did not wear the cap."
Suspects met at café
Security videos then showed Mr. Chang meeting with Siti Aisyah at the same cafe and Mr. Y walking together with Doan near the crime scene.
Soon after the two women allegedly accosted Kim Jong Nam and smeared the nerve agent on his face, footage showed that Mr.  Chang, Mr. Y and Hanamori had changed their shirts, Wan Azirul said.
He then testified that Mr. Chang went into a restroom at Level 4 of the airport around 9 a.m. and exited 12 minutes later.
"This time it can be seen that Mr. Chang changed to a red shirt, is no longer wearing a black cap and the plastic bag he is holding is also of different color, orange.
"At this juncture, I could recognize him because of his body shape and he was still wearing the same pairs of shoes," Wan Azirul said. "We can also see that Mr. Chang no longer has moustache and beard. He is already clean shaven."
The investigator said Mr. Y and Hanamori had changed their clothes and Mr. Y ditched his cap and backpack.
"Three of them, Mr. Y, Mr. Chang and Hanamori were then seen at KLIA (main airport). I also found that they had changed their clothes and were later seen together at the departure hall," Wan Azirul said, adding they left the budget airport in the same vehicle.
James, who recruited Siti Aisyah according to the investigator, was seen heading to a KLIA hotel where he went into a room.
"He is later seen at the departure hall of KLIA with the three other men," the investigator said.
Wan Azirul previously identified Mr. Y and Mr. Chang and said they were believed to have smeared liquid on the women's hands before they allegedly attacked Kim Jong Nam.
Judge Azmi Ariffin adjourned the trial to resume on Nov. 6 as he wanted to review the CCTV videos.


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BENARNEWS- Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on Friday unveiled his country's largest-ever spending plan as he moved to pump up voter support in the run-up to general elections that must be held by August.
Najib gave an upbeat assessment of the nation's economy as he presented a 280 billion ringgit (U.S. $66.1 billion) spending plan for next year that he called "the mother of all budgets."
The proposed expenditure would include aid packages for key voters for his ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, said the prime minister, who came to office in 2009 and whose term expires in June 2018.
"This budget has never been crafted so well, even during the last 22 years or the past 60 years of our own nation," Najib, who is also the finance minister, said during a three-hour budgetary speech before parliament.
Najib underscored the approaching election.
"Let's together ensure a big victory for Barisan Nasional in the 14th General Election," said Najib, who wore a blue traditional Malay attire known as Baju Melayu. Blue is the official color of BN, the ruling coalition that has dominated local politics for decades.
The proposed budget surpassed the 2017 spending allocation by 19.45 billion ringgit ($4.58 billion). By contrast, Najib's first proposed budget, in 2009, was 191.5 billion ringgit ($45.2 billion).
"This budget is the most vital as it summarizes all the initiatives that have spurred the economy since I took office in 2009," Najib said. "Indeed it is one of my main report cards."
Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, the deputy prime minister, said Malaysia had never seen such a budget in its 60-year history.
"It will be the biggest budget so far, there has been increase of almost 20 billion ringgit," he told reporters, according to the Malay Mail.
He acknowledged that the proposed spending plan was tied to upcoming elections.
"Yes, it is," Zahid said. "What else can be said about it?"
Vibrant economy
Malaysia, a multi-ethnic nation of more than 30 million people, has grown into one of Southeast Asia's most vibrant economies since gaining independence from Britain in August 1957. The Malaysian economy is expected to grow at between 5.2 and 5.7 percent this year, rebounding from 4.2 percent in 2016.
Malaysia's consumer price index (CPI) – the nation's main barometer of inflation – rose 4.3 percent in September from 3.7 percent in the preceding month, according to latest figures from the Department of Statistics.
CPI spiked at a faster-than-expected pace mostly because of higher retail oil prices, but economists told the New Straits Times that they predicted the full-year inflation to be around 3.7 percent.
Higher oil prices spurred economic growth and revenue this year, allowing Najib to propose hefty spending ahead, according to economists, who are also projecting a lower fiscal deficit for next year compared to 2017.
Subject to parliamentary approval
The 2018 budget, which will now be sent for approval by Malaysia's parliament, includes an allocation for transport subsidies and 6.8 billion ringgit ($1.6 billion) for an annual cash-handouts program.
Najib also proposed aid packages of 6.5 billion ringgit ($1.5 billion) for farmers, fisherman and rubber tappers, who are among key constituents for the ruling coalition.
In addition, the proposed budget will cover special payments next year of up to 1,500 ringgit ($353) each to the 1.6 million civil servants in the country, who historically have been among the ruling coalition's most dependable supporters, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The prime minister is under pressure to shore up electoral support as he has faced controversies involving the scandal-ridden state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), which he founded in 2009 as a vehicle for attracting investments and spurring economic growth.
Najib has been implicated after investigators said almost $700 million of money linked to 1MDB was deposited into his private banks accounts in 2013. But Najib has denied any criminal wrong doing, saying the money was donated by the Saudi royal family and not used for his personal gain.
Opposition's spending plan
Earlier in the week, Malaysian opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of Hope) unveiled an alternative proposed budget.
Among other things, it seeks to scrap the country's unpopular Goods and Services Tax (GST), which Najib introduced at a rate of 6 percent in 2015, and an increase in oil royalties from 5 percent to 20 percent in the oil-producing states of Sabah, Sarawak, Kelantan and Terengganu.
As a result of the 1MDB scandal, Najib was expected to present a budget that is widely popular among the voting masses.
In his speech, Najib also said he had allocated 24 billion ringgit ($5.6 billion) for Malaysia's 2018 defense and security forces, about 9.1 billion ringgit ($2.14 billion) less than the 2017 allotment.
But the country's police anti-terrorism unit will be allocated 50 million ringgit ($11.78 million) to upgrade its weaponry, he said.
"Two hundred and fifty million ringgit ($58.9 million) to ESSCOM to enhance security control in Sabah and Sarawak border areas, including 50 million ringgit ($11.7 million) for coastal surveillance radar," he said, referring to the Eastern Sabah Security Command.
ESSCOM was created in the aftermath of a foiled incursion four years ago by an armed group from the Sulu archipelago in the southern Philippines.
In February 2013, about 200 men arrived in a flotilla of rickety boats from the nearby Sulu islands, and occupied part of the coastline of Sabah, which lies in Malaysian Borneo, for several weeks as they asserted the Sultan of Sulu's claim of historical rule over Sabah. More than 70 people died in ensuing gun battles.
Hadi Azmi, N. Nantha and Hata Wahari contributed to this report.


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BENARNEWS- Malaysia's former police chief dismissed accusations that officers were involved in the abduction of a Christian pastor eight months ago, telling a human rights commission fact-finding panel Monday that his men were doing their best to solve the case.
Pastor Raymond Koh Keng Joo, 62, was snatched by a group of men in broad daylight on Feb. 13, when they forced his car to a stop as it exited a highway in Petaling Jaya, near Kuala Lumpur. The kidnapping was captured on surveillance cameras. Koh, a member of Malaysia's Christian minority, has been missing ever since.
"There must be some form of police insignia. If there is none, that is not a police operation," Khalid Abu Bakar, the recently retired inspector general of police, testified when asked whether the abductors who were wearing balaclavas could have been policemen.
The nation's former police chief was appearing before a three-member inquiry panel set up by the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam), a government body, to investigate the cases of four missing persons, including Pastor Koh.
"Sometimes in operations, not everyone would have signs or insignia but someone would surely have one," he added.
The CCTV footage indicated that Koh's abduction was planned and organized, but Khalid said it was not professionally done.
"This is all learned from movies and they tried to emulate it. It is not the only occurrence," Khalid said responding to a question by Koh's lawyer and citing examples from gang-related murders.
The abduction, according to Khalid, looked messy.
"To a layman that might look efficient," he told the panel.
The panel is carrying out its inquiry into the disappearances of Koh, Pastor Joshua Hilmi and his wife, Ruth Sitepu, and social activist Amri Che Mat under the Human Rights Commission Malaysia Act.
The inquiry by the panelists – Suhakam commissioners Mah Weng Kai, Aishah Bidin and Nik Salida Suhaila – aims to determine whether these cases were involuntary disappearances in breach of the nation's criminal and civil law.
It also seeks to identify responsible individuals or agencies and find out whether police officials have taken adequate steps to investigate the cases, Suhakam said in a statement.
'You cannot say that we are not doing anything'
Khalid's statement on Monday contradicted previous testimony from eyewitness Roeshan Celestine Gomez, who said that a police inspector at the Kelana Jaya police station told him that the abduction resembled a police operation. Gomez said he was told this while lodging a police report about the incident.
The panel also asked Khalid to respond to allegations that police were more interested in investigating accusations that Koh and his NGO, Harapan Komuniti, were involved in proselytizing Christianity to Muslims.
Khalid said police were looking at the case from a broad angle and questions regarding the pastor's activity were essential to see if it had any connection to his disappearance.
"There were reports saying he was involved in proselytization, so that must also be investigated, but it does not steer us away from the main investigation of his abduction," said Khalid, who retired as police chief in early September. "You cannot say that we are not doing anything."
The panel's fifth witness, Khalid repeatedly declined to answer some questions.
"I reserve my right to not answer questions pertaining to the suspects as the case is still ongoing. The suspect might be arrested in the future so I cannot say anything," he said several times.
Threats
Earlier, the pastor's son Jonathan Koh, had said that most questions from police had to do with whether his father was proselytizing to Muslims.
"I was disappointed because they were not concerned about his abduction and refused to give us information regarding the case," he testified.
Jonathan Koh also told the inquiry that his father had received an anonymous call in Arabic, which they perceived to be a threat, in 2016.
"I only heard it being mentioned. It was with music and some words in the background. In Arabic, 'Allahu Akbar' (God is great)," he said.
Koh's wife, Susanna Liew, had said that the family was living in fear of death threats since 2011, when his NGO was accused of trying to convert Muslim youths to Christianity, an act that is considered illegal in Malaysia. The family's troubles began when officers with the Islamic Religious Department in Selangor state raided a Thanksgiving dinner attended by Muslims.
Three others are missing
Amri, a social activist, co-founder of a local NGO and resident of the state of Perlis, was last seen on Nov. 24, 2016. His disappearance may have been religiously motivated based on allegations that he was spreading Shia Muslim teachings, according to local media reports.
Witnesses reported seeing five vehicles block the path of his jeep, which was found empty and parked near a local dam, with its windshield smashed.
Six days later, Hilmi and his wife, Ruth, both Christian preachers, were last seen at their home in Selangor state. A missing-persons report was not filed until March 6, officials said.
Blog postings claim that the couple had been Muslims before becoming Christians and converted others to the religion.
More than 60 percent of Malaysia's 19.5 million citizens are Muslims.
At least 15 people have been subpoenaed by the inquiry and 35 people, including family members and police, have been interviewed.


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BENARNEWS- Malaysia may close its embassy in North Korea and move the mission's duties to the Chinese capital amid regional security concerns over Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile testing program, Prime Minister Najib Razak told parliament on Monday.
He said Malaysia's government was also re-evaluating bilateral diplomatic ties with Pyongyang that have lasted since 1973 but were rocked by the February 2017 assassination on Malaysian soil of the half-brother of North Korea's dictator.
"We are reviewing our links to North Korea including diplomatic, political and economic relations," Najib said. "Malaysia is also considering closing our embassy in Pyongyang and moving it to Beijing."
Najib was responding to a parliamentarian's question about issues that the prime minister had discussed with U.S. President Donald Trump during an official visit to Washington on Sept. 12.
"Among issues we discussed was the situation in the Korean Peninsula, where both nations raised concerns over the peace and security of the Asia Pacific region which is under threat following North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missiles testing," Najib said.
He added that the government had also introduced a policy to require North Korean nationals to obtain visas in order to enter Malaysia. Until a diplomatic row broke out between the two countries over the Feb. 13 killing of Kim Jong Nam at a Kuala Lumpur area airport, North Koreans were allowed to enter Malaysia without a visa.
Two Southeast Asian women – an Indonesian and a Vietnamese – are on trial in Malaysia over murder charges for allegedly smearing Kim Jong Nam's face with the deadly VX nerve agent.
The government, Najib said, started considering closing its embassy in Pyongyang after a diplomatic row erupted following the airport assassination.
Foreign Minister Anifah Aman had previously said that Malaysia had no plans to send an ambassador to Pyongyang again, after the last diplomat was recalled during the height of the diplomatic row.
The row saw Malaysia and North Korea expel their respective ambassadors and impose mutual exit bans on each other's citizens, among other tense moments in a crisis that lasted six weeks. Malaysia also cancelled the visa-free privilege for North Koreans entering Malaysia.
The dispute ended in late March when Malaysia agreed to exchange Kim's body, along with two North Koreans who were initially wanted for questioning by police in connection with the murder, for nine Malaysians who were trapped in Pyongyang for weeks because of the exit ban.
Play ball
Najib's comments came days ahead of a two-leg Asian Cup qualifying football match between Malaysia and North Korea, which will be hosted by Thailand on Nov. 10 and Nov. 13.
The first leg of the match was originally scheduled for March 28 in Pyongyang, but it was postponed repeatedly as a result of the diplomatic clash that followed the assassination.
The Pyongyang leg was postponed a third time in late September after Malaysia banned its citizens from travelling to the North Korean capital, citing heightened security concerns on the Korean Peninsula.


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BENARNEWS- Police forces from Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Brunei will work with Interpol to catch foreign militants trying to infiltrate their common borders, when they launch a two-week joint operation Wednesday, officials said.
The nations will use a database of 75 million people, including suspected terrorists, provided by the France-based International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol).
"Asia, like every region in the world, has been and continues to be a target of terrorists," Harald Arm, Interpol's director of operational support and analysis, told reporters Tuesday during a media event in Sandakan, Malaysia, kicking off Operation Maharlika.
"Maharlika" means "free man" in ancient Filipino.
All four nations share territory on Borneo island, which lies close to the southern Philippines where fighters linked to the Islamic State (IS) were locked in a five-month battle with government forces in the city of Marawi until last week. More than 1,200 people were killed since fighting broke out on May 23.
"Operations such as Maharlika are one of the ways in which Interpol works for member countries to help them secure their borders and prevent the movement of terrorists and materials that could be used in attacks," he said.
The operation would be crucial in streamlining efforts among member countries, Arm added.
"Interpol database contains 75 million records and, in 2016, some 3 billion checks were made," Arm said. "Today, Interpol database is being checked 200 times per second."
He said access to the Interpol database would allow the participating nations to obtain information on terrorism activities in the region.
More than 1,200 people were killed in the fighting in Marawi. The battle broke out when Philippine forces moved to arrest Isnilon Hapilon, a Filipino leader of the Abu Sayyaf militant group who was also the declared chief of the IS branch in Southeast Asia.
He and his fighters were backed by foreign militants, including citizens of Malaysia and Indonesia, the Philippine military said. Hapilon was killed during the last days of fighting, as was Mahmud Ahmad, a top Malaysian militant leader and former university professor.
The fighting, which included daily bombing runs by the military, devastated the scenic lakeside city of 200,000 people.
Gadgetry and databases
During Maharlika, the four national police forces will carry out operations within their respective territories with training and equipment support from Interpol, said Zulkifli Abdullah, who directs the Malaysian police's Internal Security and Public Order division.
The effort aims to prevent foreign militants from moving within the region, he said.
Interpol will provide equipment that contains data on individuals, allowing law-enforcement officials to check a person's criminal record on the spot, he said.
"We will know whether the person is wanted in the country or elsewhere," Zulkifli said.
The operation, Zulkifli said, is to cover airports, sea and land borders. Results are to be discussed during a meeting of government representatives at the end of the year.
"We can't talk in specifics about how the operation is going to work. We can't disclose our operation," Zulkifli told reporters.
Zulkifli said the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (ESSZONE) would be the main focus of the operation in Malaysia.
"If the operation is successful, we will review it and may continue it in the future. If there's a cross-border entry of foreign terrorists, we will share the information in real time," he added.
Earlier this month, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines launched the Trilateral Air Patrol (TAP), to bolster a similar maritime effort that aims to rid their shared borders of threats from IS-linked extremists.
"No country is safe from the clutches of Islamic State. But today we have sent a signal that if you touch any one of us, we will face you head-on together," Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told reporters during the TAP's launch in Subang, Malaysia.

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Indonesian Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu (left) joins hands with his counterparts from Malaysia, Hishammuddin Hussein, and the Philippines, Delfin Lorenzana, for a group photo after the launch of joint air patrols at Subang military airbase in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, Oct. 12, 2017. (AP)



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BENARNEWS- Malaysia will not arrest a controversial Muslim televangelist from India who has been granted permanent residency unless he is involved in terrorist activities or breaks any local laws, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi assured parliamentarians on Tuesday.
Preacher Zakir Naik legally obtained a permanent resident I.D. card from the National Registration Department based on an entry pass issued by the immigration department, Zahid said in a written response to questions from opposition MP Teresa Kok Suh Sim.
She asked whether Naik, who is the subject of criminal charges in India, received special treatment or was offered citizenship.
"Throughout his stay in the country, Zakir Naik has never flouted any law. Therefore, there is no reason in terms of legal provisions to detain or arrest him," Zahid said, adding that the preacher had not received any special treatment in Malaysia.
The home minister also responded that officials were waiting to hear from their Indian counterparts.
"The Malaysian government has yet to receive any official request from the India government on alleged terrorism offenses involving Zakir Naik," Hamidi said. "Nevertheless, the government has always monitored Zakir's activities in the country and will take action against him if he is found to be involved in terror activities."
Despite Hamidi's assurance that the preacher was being monitored, Naik is not in the country, an immigration officer who asked to remain anonymous told BenarNews.
Singapore bans two Muslims clerics
Also on Tuesday, the Malaysian deputy minister said that the government would not bar two other controversial Muslim preachers, Malaysian Haslin bin Baharim and Zimbabwean Ismail Menk from delivering sermons in Malaysia.
Zahid made the comment a day after the Singaporean home ministry banned the two preachers from entering the city-state that borders Malaysia, saying their preaching could foment social discord in Singapore, which is also a multi-racial and multi-religious nation.
"So far, these two religious speakers have not suggested anything that goes against our understanding of cultural and religious diversity to the point of causing social, racial and religious tensions in Malaysia," Malaysia's state-run Bernama news agency quoted Zahid as saying.
"Thus far, Malaysia is satisfied with what they are doing and does not intend to take similar action as they are not wrong in our eyes," he said.
Singapore's assessment of the two hardline preachers contrasted sharply with Zahid's comments.
Menk preaches "segregationist and divisive teachings," such as claiming that it is a sin for Muslims to wish Christians a Merry Christmas or to wish Hindus a Happy Deepavali (Divali), and Baharim has promoted disharmony by describing non-Muslims as "deviant," Singaporean home ministry officials said in a statement.
"Such divisive views breed intolerance and exclusivist practices that will damage social harmony, and cause communities to drift apart. They are unacceptable in the context of Singapore's multi-racial and multi-religious society," the ministry said on Monday.
Charge-sheet against Naik
An Indian official had previously said that Naik was believed to be traveling between the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia. The preacher left India a month before terrorists attacked a café in Dhaka, Bangladesh in July 2016, officials said.
In July, Naik cancelled a scheduled appearance at a gathering of Muslim scholars in Malaysia's Kelantan state after India revoked his passport.
Naik's inflammatory speeches allegedly inspired some of the militants who carried out the siege at the Holey Artisan Bakery café in Dhaka. Twenty-nine people, including 20 hostages and five gunmen, were killed during the overnight attack claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.
Last week, the Indian government filed a 61-page charge sheet against Naik alleging he was involved in a criminal conspiracy by lauding terrorist organizations. Officials announced plans to ask Interpol to help find him.
India's National Investigation Agency also accused Naik of giving sermons through his Peace TV channel that praised the late al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, supported suicide attacks by militants and denounced Hindu gods.
Naik's now-forbidden Mumbai-based NGO Islamic Research Foundation partly funded the channel that is banned in India, Bangladesh and several other countries.
Hata Wahari in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report.


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BENARNEWS- U.S. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster has directly accused North Korean leader Kim Jong Un of being behind the murder of his estranged half-brother at a Malaysian airport earlier this year, saying it was an act of terrorism that could result in Pyongyang being relisted as a sponsor of terror acts.
Kim Jong Nam was poisoned to death while awaiting a flight at an airport on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur on Feb. 13. The United States and South Korea had suspected Pyongyang of being behind the murder.
An Indonesian woman and a Vietnamese woman are on trial for murder, accused of smearing Kim Jong Nam's face with the deadly VX nerve agent. Malaysia says four men who have since fled to North Korea are also prime suspects, but prosecutors have not released their full names or confirmed their North Korean origin in court.
McMaster, who was briefing the media on Thursday ahead of President Donald Trump's visit to Asia, said the Malaysian murder could set the stage for nuclear-armed North Korea's re-inclusion in the State Department blacklist of nations suspected of sponsoring terrorism.
"[A] regime who murders someone in a public airport using nerve agent, and a despotic leader who murders his brother in that manner, I mean that's clearly an act of terrorism that fits in with a range of other actions," he told reporters.
"That is an option under consideration," he said when asked how much thought he was giving to putting North Korea back on the blacklist. "Murdering your brother in an international airport with nerve agent sounds like terrorism to me.
"The president's cabinet is looking at it as part of an overall strategy on North Korea" and "you will hear about that soon, I think."
North Korea had been listed as a state sponsor of terror from 1988 until 2008, when President George W. Bush removed the country as part of an agreement to deal with its nuclear program that later collapsed.
Ed Royce, the Republican chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, urged the Trump administration to relist North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism, calling for quick action.
"There is simply no reason for further delay of this decision," he said.
"The North Korean regime's murderous torture of Otto Warmbier and assassination of Kim Jong Nam are just two examples of a consistent pattern of recent terrorist activities," Royce said in a statement late Thursday.
Warmbier was a U.S. student who died on June 19, 2017, at the age of 22, just six days after he was evacuated from North Korea where he had been imprisoned after he allegedly tried to steal a propaganda poster from a restricted area while visiting the country on a sightseeing tour.
He was released from North Korea with severe brain damage.
Trump, during his visit to Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines, is expected to continue rallying international support for isolating North Korea over its illicit nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.
North Korea carried out its sixth nuclear test, the biggest yet, in September and had carried out a series of missile tests, firing two ballistic missiles over Japan in August and September.
After talks with Trump during an official visit to Washington on Sept. 12, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said his country may close its embassy in North Korea and move the mission's duties to the Chinese capital Beijing amid regional security concerns over Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile testing program.
He said Malaysia's government was also re-evaluating bilateral diplomatic ties with Pyongyang that have lasted since 1973 but were rocked by Kim Jong Nam's murder.
"We are reviewing our links to North Korea including diplomatic, political and economic relations," Najib said.


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BENARNEWS- A 19-year-old Malaysian student pleaded guilty Sunday to charges of possessing explosives, after authorities indicted him and two men on allegations that they had planned to detonate a homemade bomb during a beer festival in Kuala Lumpur last month.
Organizers cancelled the Better Beer Festival, scheduled from Oct. 6 to 7 at a shopping center in Kuala Lumpur, following objections from Muslim groups who claimed that the event would encourage immorality and lead to criminal acts. The event was expected to attract 6,000 people, organizers said.
Muhammad Hafizi Mat Jusoh, a high-school level student, pleaded guilty to charges of possessing two improvised explosive devices (IEDs). He made the plea before Judge Ahmad Bazli Bahruddin at the Kota Bharu Session's Court in Kelantan state.
The student was charged under the country's Firearms Act 1971 after authorities seized two bombs from a residence in Merkang village, in the district of Pasir Puteh, on Oct. 10. Officials said the student had admitted making the IEDs after learning how to make bombs by watching videos online.
Muhammaf Hafizi could face up to 14 years in prison and six strokes of the cane upon sentencing on Dec. 6.
Malaysian authorities last month said one of the bombs, weighing about 1.3 pounds, contained ball bearings compacted in a PVC pipe and could have injured or killed people within a blast radius of 30 meters (98 feet).
Muhammad Hafizi also faces four other charges, including providing training and being present at a terrorist training site. He did not enter his plea on those charges that each carry a penalty of 30 years imprisonment and fine, upon conviction.
Two other men who were arrested with the student – 34-year-old former soldier Mahadi Brahim and 24-year-old building contractor Ahmad Azmi Ahmad Rosli – were also charged with similar charges in the same court on Sunday. They did not enter any plea on Sunday.
All three men were not represented by attorneys when prosecutor Muhammad Fadzlan Mohd Noor filed the charges Sunday.
Linked to the Gagak Hitam (Black Crows) gang
Malaysian police chief Mohamad Fuzi Harun earlier said the two suspects had links to the Gagak Hitam (Black Crows) gang believed responsible for the grenade attack at a nightclub in Puchong, Selangor, near Kuala Lumpur, last year.
He said the three men were also targeting other locations in the country, including Malaysia's iconic Twin Towers, non-Muslim houses of worship and entertainment outlets in Kuala Lumpur, the nation's capital, and Selangor state. He did not provide details.
The trio's arrests brought to nine the number of foiled bomb plots since 2013, Fuzi said.
Investigators said the building contractor had links with Muhammad Wanndy Mohamad Jedi, a leading Southeast Asian recruiter for the Islamic State (IS) who was killed in a drone attack on April 29 in Syria, 10 months after he allegedly orchestrated a grenade attack that injured eight people at a nightclub outside Kuala Lumpur.
Two men were convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison each over the blast, the first successful IS-linked attack on Malaysian soil.
Malaysia is home to about 19.5 million Muslims, who make up more than 60 percent of its population. Buddhists, Hindus and Christians make up the rest.
In 2014, Malaysian police said they foiled an IS-linked plot to bomb a Carlsberg brewery in Shah Alam, Selangor, about 30 km (19 miles) southeast of the capital.
An earlier version erroneously reported that eight people were killed in a grenade attack on a nightclub near Kuala Lumpur.


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BENARNEWS- Surveillance videos filmed a North Korean embassy official together with four suspects wanted in the murder of Kim Jong Nam, shortly after the killing at a Kuala Lumpur area airport, a police investigator testified Monday.

The four men were North Koreans, lead case investigator Wan Azirul Nizam Che Wan Aziz also told the court for the first time.

He said that closed-circuit television footage showed the diplomat as well as a manager for North Korea's state-run airline, Air Koryo, helping the four men at the check-in counter at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 within an hour of the murder of Kim, the estranged half-brother of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. 

Wan Azirul testified that he took statements from the North Korean diplomat and airline manager after establishing their identities through the Royal Malaysia Police's Special Branch.

"They explained that the reason they were there was to assist every North Korean individual or citizen who boarded a flight to leave the country," Wan Azirul told the Shah Alam High Court outside Kuala Lumpur. 

Malaysian police in February had named the diplomat as Hyon Kwang Song, 44, a second secretary at Pyongyang's diplomatic mission in Kuala Lumpur, as well as Kim Uk Il, 37, an Air Koryo manager stationed in Malaysia.

Wan Azirul was carrying on with his testimony as a witness for the prosecution in the trial of two Southeast Asian women who have been charged with Kim Jong Nam's murder. Monday's courtroom deliberations were the first in 11 days, since the policeman last took the witness stand. 

Indonesian Siti Aisyah and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong have been charged along with the four men who fled the country after the killing on Feb. 13.

Prosecutors have accused the two women of accosting the victim and smearing deadly VX nerve agent on his face in the departure terminal of KLIA 2 as he was preparing to board a flight to Macau.

Both have pleaded not guilty, saying they were tricked into attacking Kim Jong Nam as part of a prank for a reality TV show. Defense lawyers claim they were scapegoats and victims of an elaborate trick involving the four men.

The two, who were arrested days after the killing, face the death penalty by hanging, if convicted. 

Known only by aliases

On Monday, Wan Azirul testified that the four men who fled Kuala Lumpur hours after the murder were Hong Song Hac (alias Mr. Chang), 34; Ri Ji Hyon (alias Mr. Y), 33; Ri Jae Nam (alias Hanamori), 57; and O Jong Dil (alias James), 55.

The two women knew them only by their aliases, he said, explaining that he had established the suspects' identities with help from the Special Branch. 

Although the four men arrived in Malaysia on separate dates between Jan. 31 and Feb. 17, all of them left on Feb. 13, the day of the murder, Wan Azirul said. He said three of the four suspects boarded a flight to Jakarta after the killing, but the witness could not recall Jong Dil's destination. 

The killing disrupted Malaysia's long-time diplomatic relations with North Korea, whose government strongly denied any role in the killing. Officials from the North Korean embassy even refused to identify the body as that of Kim Jong Nam, who was carrying a passport bearing the name of Kim Chol when he was attacked.

But Kuala Lumpur eventually agreed to resolve the feud with Pyongyang by sending the body to Pyongyang in exchange for nine Malaysians trapped there by an exit ban.
Hyon Kwang Song, the second secretary at the North Korean embassy, and Kim Uk Il, the Air Koryo official, as well as a third man whom Malaysian police had also sought for questioning in connection with the murder, were on the same flight that carried Kim Jong Nam's corpse back to his homeland.


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BENARNEWS- Malaysia is willing to take back 53 citizens who joined the Islamic State but are stranded in the Middle East after the collapse of IS's self-declared caliphate in the Syrian city of Raqqa, the nation's police chief said Tuesday.
Malaysian authorities will allow the suspected militants, whose passports have been revoked, to return to the country, but under one condition, Police Inspector-General Mohamad Fuzi Harun told BenarNews.
"If they are willing to surrender, let us know and we will inform the relevant authorities," Fuzi said. "If we can help, we will help. Our work has always been about helping people."
On Oct. 23, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told the parliament that 53 Malaysians were hiding in no-man's land in Iraq and Syria, after U.S.-backed forces routed IS fighters and seized Raqqa, known as the extremist group's de facto capital. He said 34 Malaysians had also been killed during fighting in the two war-torn countries.
Fuzi said the 53 Malaysians – composed of 24 men, 12 women and 17 children – were still in Syria and may have fled cities where fierce battles took place. Other officials had said earlier that the Malaysians might have sought refuge in camps on the borders with Jordan and Turkey.
"Yes, they are still there and I've mentioned this [figure] before. They don't have a base now and nowhere to go as they have been defeated. They can't come back as their passports have been revoked," he said.
The police chief described the 53 like "sons who have lost their dad."
"Now, they are looking for survival," he said. "So either they run to other countries to set up a new base or come back illegally."
But Fuzi expressed doubts that the Malaysians were remorseful about going to Syria or Iraq to fight alongside IS. They might not be willing to seek help from a Malaysian embassy to surrender, he said.
"I don't think they would go to the Malaysian embassies, as they know they would be arrested later," Fuzi said.
During the past four years, Malaysian authorities have arrested 349 people suspected of having links to terror groups, including IS. Sixty-six of those suspects have been freed, according to government figures compiled by BenarNews.
Malaysian security officials had earlier said that they had arrested two Indonesians, a Malaysian and two Bangladeshis who tried to sneak into the southern Philippines to join a pro-IS faction of the Abu Sayyaf, a group of gunmen that battled Philippine government forces in Marawi in a five-month firefight that killed more than 1,000 people.
Malaysia, home to about 19.5 million Muslims who make up more than 60 percent of its population, has foiled nine IS-related bomb plots since 2013, security officials said. However, an IS-linked grenade attack last year at a nightclub in Puchong, near Kuala Lumpur, injured eight people.
IS preparing for a new phase
At its height in 2014, the Islamic State, also known by other acronyms such as ISIS or ISIL, controlled Raqqa and Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, and considered large tracts of land on both sides of the border among its important bastions.
IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who claimed to be the successor to the caliphs, the Islamic emperors who ruled the region in past centuries, declared the establishment of an Islamic caliphate in Mosul and persuaded thousands of Muslims around the world, including Malaysians and Indonesians, to travel to the region and fight.
But after IS was pushed out of Mosul in July and following its recent defeat in Raqqa, the group might be preparing for a new phase by trying to gain a foothold in Southeast Asia, according to analysts.
Security experts have warned that militants might move from the Middle East to the southern Philippines, although Malaysian intelligence officials said it would be difficult for their citizens to travel from Syria because they no longer possessed valid travel documents.
In August, 18 Indonesians who admitted to having joined IS in Syria were placed in police custody after returning to their homeland, officials said.
The group reportedly included a former high-ranking civil servant from Batam, an Indonesian island about 18 km (12 miles) from Singapore, who abandoned his post in August 2015 to go to Syria, as well as four other men, nine women and four children.


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BENARNEWS- Jailed de facto Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim failed in his bid for freedom when a Malaysian court on Wednesday dismissed his lawsuit over allegations that the lead prosecutor had received millions of ringgits to handle the case against him.
Anwar filed court documents in June alleging that the appointment of Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, a lawyer in private practice, as lead prosecutor in the appeal over his sodomy conviction went against the attorney general's usual practice.
Anwar also claimed that the lawyer was not an independent prosecutor and did not discharge his duties fairly, noting he had received a payment of 9.5 million ringgit (U.S. $2.22 million) from Prime Minister Najib Razak.
Kuala Lumpur High Court Judge Azizah Nawawi ruled against Anwar on Wednesday, saying  said the former deputy prime minister had made "bare allegations" about the payment.
"Anwar has not given any evidence to support his allegations," she said in her judgment and ordered him to pay the Malaysian government 10,000 ringgit ($2,366) in costs.
Anwar, founder of the opposition People's Justice Party, was charged with sodomizing a former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, in 2008. The High Court acquitted Anwar in 2012 but the Court of Appeal reversed that decision and sentenced him to five years in prison in 2014.
Anwar petitioned the court to set aside his sodomy conviction after a media report on May 31 alleged that Najib had used 1Malaysia Development Berhad funds to pay the lawyer.
N. Surendran, Anwar's attorney, said he would appeal the ruling.
"We are extremely disappointed on today's decision. We will argue it at the Court of Appeal," he told reporters at the court.
Lawyer Muhammad Shafee, who was present to hear the ruling, described the allegation as nonsense.
"I was never paid 9.5 million ringgit to prosecute Anwar," he said.
In 2015, the government said he was paid 1,000 ringgit ($234) to handle the case.
Najib has not commented on the allegation, but former Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan, who served from 2006 to 2010, questioned its validity. Najib became prime minister in 2009.
This is Anwar's second sodomy conviction. After he was acquitted in 2004 of a charge filed in 1998, Anwar claimed he was framed by the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), the party that leads Malaysia's ruling bloc. Malaysian government officials and UMNO leaders have denied framing Anwar.
1,000 days
On Monday, opposition leaders and supporters gathered outside the Malaysian Parliament and marched to the Independence Square in solidarity with Anwar, who has spent 1,000 days in prison.
Meanwhile, Southeast Asian parliamentarians demanded Anwar's immediate and unconditional release, saying the opposition leader's imprisonment exemplified a trend of intensified government persecution against critical voices in Malaysia.
ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) called on Malaysian authorities to cease judicial harassment and other forms of intimidation against opposition members and government critics.
"Anwar Ibrahim's conviction flew in the face of international legal standards and seriously undermined the credibility of Malaysia's justice system, demonstrating the extent to which the courts have been used as tools of an executive agenda," said APHR Board Member Teddy Baguilat, a congressman in the Philippines.
"From the beginning, this case was about silencing opposition voices and making it more difficult to challenge the government," he said. "It's a trend we've been seeing intensify across the region, and it signals even darker days ahead for human rights."
On Wednesday, Anwar was admitted to a Kuala Lumpur hospital and is scheduled to undergo surgery for shoulder injuries he suffered in a vehicle accident on Sept. 22 while he was being transported to prison following treatment at the hospital. The government said he would be given proper treatment.
"We hope that medical officers from the Health Ministry will provide the best possible treatment and post-surgical care for him," Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told members of parliament.


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