Hishamuddin denies M’sia is supplying arms to terrorists

(The Star) – Claims that Malaysia has been supplying arms to terrorists in the region are untrue and made with mischievous intent, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein.

Hishammuddin said Malaysia had a very good intelligence gathering system aimed at avoiding threats within the country and he was confident that such activities would have been picked up by the authorities.

He said Malaysia started building a good intelligence gathering system during the communist insurgency and later during the rise of racial tensions in the country, and these had been constantly upgraded over the years.

“You can see that the majority of the Internal Security Act (ISA) detainees being held for terrorist related activities are foreigners, so to say we export terrorists or arms is mischievous and factually wrong.

“We have built a strong team of people (in intelligence gathering) to ensure Malaysia is safe.

“If anyone has proof of us exporting terrorists or arming them, they should provide it to us and we promise we will take the necessary action.

“We do not tolerate acts of terror, no matter what the grounds – racial or religious – and we have always worked with countries in the region through bilateral and regional cooperation to fight the menace and we will continue to do so,” he told reporters when met at the Hari Raya open house hosted by the Prime Minister and cabinet ministers here Sunday.

He said finger-pointing would not help solve problems like terror and no one country could be blamed for it because it was a network and a global problem that could manifest in any country.

Defence Minister Datuk Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, when met at the same function, also denied that the armed forces had ever been involved in any effort to supply arms to any party outside Malaysia.

He said Malaysia only owned slightly above 60% of the arms it actually needed and therefore the question of it having excess weapons to sell to third parties did not even arise.

“We do purchase weapons through open and also negotiated tenders but we have always kept the process transparent and my ministry has never been involved in any cases of weapons smuggling,” he said.

However, he said, having fewer weapons than the amount country needed did not mean that the defense of the nation was neglected as most countries kept the same percentage of weapons.

“Most countries only meet between 60 and 70% of their weapons needs because, at the speed that the weapons’ technology grows, it does not make sense meet all the weapons needs due to the quickly expanding weapons technology,” he said.

Speaking on Suhakam’s call to close the ISA detention camp in Kamunting due to the very small number of detainees there, Hishammuddin said the problem was not the number of detainees held now or the current level of threat to national security.

He said the camp was necessary to ensure that there was a facility available to hold those who threatened the peace and security of the nation when such a threat arose.

“Let us talk to Suhakam first to see what they are actually calling for because in our previous discussions they had agreed that there was a need to retain ISA although it should be amended.

“Them claiming there is no need for a detention facility now does not seem be along the lines of all that we have discussed and agreed upon during our discussions,” he said.