KL calls for world summit to crush militancy, terror

KL calls for world summit to crush militancy, terror

KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): Calling for a summit of world leaders
to tackle terrorism, the Malaysian government said on Friday that
actions such as its recent crackdown on suspected Islamic
militants are necessary to prevent tragedies like the attacks in
the United States.

Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said that the attacks in
Washington and New York were a "lesson" that governments should
take firm steps to combat extremist movements that could destroy
lives and jeopardize peace.

"Malaysia on its part has taken very, very strong action
against all those involved in militant activities," Syed Hamid
told reporters. "We have taken preventive measures, as we cannot
afford to wait and see what has happened in the World Trade
Center" happen here.

Last month, Malaysian police detained without trial at least
10 alleged Islamic extremists accused of being involved in a
campaign of waging robberies and murders to overthrow Prime
Minister Mahathir Mohamad's government and install a hardline
Islamic state.

Some of the detainees were also members of the fundamentalist
Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, the country's largest opposition
group, which says the accusations are baseless and an attempt to
discredit the party.

The government claims that Malaysia's extremists have links
with like-minded groups in neighboring Indonesia and the
Philippines. A Malaysian bomber blew off his leg in Jakarta last
month during an attack on a shopping mall.

On Friday, Mahathir, Asia's longest-serving ruler, proposed
that world leaders hold a conference to discuss international
terrorism. He added, however, that countries should avoid taking
sides to tackle the problem.

"Islamic countries should not take sides with fellow Islamic
countries, while non-Islamic countries should not take sides with
non-Islamic countries," Mahathir was quoted as saying by the
national news agency, Bernama. Malaysia is a predominantly Muslim
country.

Mahathir, who has led Malaysia since 1981, warned that violent
methods were not the proper way to resolve the issue, but that a
solution must be found to deal with the root of terrorism.

"We need to look at terrorism as a crime that has to be
addressed by the whole world," Mahathir said.

Mahathir visited the U.S. Embassy and signed the condolences
book.

Malaysia has stepped security outside embassies and the
national oil company, Petronas, also increased vigilance at all
its facilities after a bomb hoax Wednesday at the Petronas Twin
Towers, the world's tallest buildings, forced the evacuation of
thousands of people.

Malaysia said it was keeping up rigorous checks on arrivals to
the mostly Muslim country as focus turns to militant groups
operating out of Asia following the terror attacks on the United
States.

A surge in arrivals from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and Iraq
this year raised worries Malaysia was becoming a transit corridor
for refugees fleeing regimes at home.

Meanwhile, Malaysian law enforcement officials said on Friday
that the Philippines had not requested the arrest of nine
Malaysians who were denied entry into the Philippines by
suspicious customs officials.

The nine had all been in Pakistan recently for periods long
enough to have included terrorism training, Philippine officials
said.

The men were ethnic Malay Muslims with Malaysian passports and
were flown back to Kuala Lumpur after being turned away from Cebu
international airport, a Malaysian official said on condition of
anonymity.

Casimiro Madarang, chief of the immigration bureau at Cebu
airport, told The Associated Press that the nine had recently
been in Pakistan an average of five months, which he considered
as enough time for terrorism training, so they were barred from
entering the Philippines.