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.