Don't blame us for terrorism: Malaysia

Don't blame us for terrorism: Malaysia

Agence France-Presse, Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia has rejected being a source of Islamic militancy and
stressed that it has helped resolve conflicts involving armed
Muslim groups in Southeast Asia, its state-run media said on
Sunday.

Kuala Lumpur had mediated to end fighting in the Philippines
and Indonesia and stayed clear of any involvement in the unrest
in mainly-Muslim southern Thailand, said Deputy Prime Minister
Najib Razak.

"It's best to study the underlying causes and not be quick to
lay blame on others without any concrete evidence," Najib was
quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.

"We do not see what is happening as having its root in
Malaysia."

Malaysian extremists have come into the spotlight recently
with the Indonesian police killing of bombmaker Azahari Husin
this month and a large-scale police hunt for his militant
compatriot, Noordin M. Top.

The two have been accused of being members of the al-Qaeda
linked Jamaah Islamiyah network and of orchestrating a string of
bloody attacks, including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202
people.

"It's very unfortunate that Malaysians like Dr. Azahari Husin
and Noordin Top played leading roles in the Jamaah Islamiyah
terrorist organization in Indonesia, but these are matters beyond
our control," said Najib.

Indonesian media reports have recently claimed that
sympathizers in Malaysia had funded militants linked to Azahari
and Noordin.

And Thai politicians have in the past blamed Malaysia for the
insurgency in Thailand's south, saying militants were training
across the border.

Najib said Malaysia was not exporting militancy and had
actually mediated in disputes involving Muslim separatists in the
southern Philippines and in Aceh province in Sumatra, far-western
Indonesia.

"The militancy in the southern Phillipines, it is not caused
by us," said the deputy premier.

"We played hosts for negotiations between the Philippine
government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, who were at
odds with each other. We also placed our soldiers there for two
years as part of a peacekeeping mission.

"Malaysia also helped out in Aceh, where now the warring
parties have agreed to peace, and in southern Thailand we never
interfere at all as it is their internal matter," he said.

Najib said Noordin was still believed to be in Indonesia and
that Malaysian authorities would hunt him down if he came home.

Malaysia's Deputy Internal Security Minister Noh Omar said on
Saturday that all known Jamaah Islamiyah suspects in Malaysia
were now behind bars, with 67 detained at the Kamunting detention
camp, the New Straits Times reported.