Putrajaya tables white paper on Isis

The Facebook page of the Islamic State of Syria and the Levant (Isis). Putrajaya has tabled a white on threat of militancy in the country, and named Isis as the prime influencer of the ideology. – November 25, 2014.

Putrajaya has tabled a white paper on the threat of militancy on Malaysia, namely the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis), in a move to contain the spread of the ideology.

The white paper is embargoed until tomorrow, where it will be debated after the House completed the winding up of the 2015 Budget, which is at the committee stage.

Copies of the white paper has been placed on the MPs tables and listed in today's Order Paper.

The white paper is expected to list out Malaysia's policies in tackling the Isis threat.

In the Order Paper, it stated that there was a need to explain the dangers posed by the terrorists on the nation's security towards all Malaysians.

And, Malaysia realised the need to work with the United Nations to tackle the Isis threat, which is determined to establish an Islamic caliphate in the Middle East.

It also called on Parliament to support Putrajaya's efforts and policies to tackle the threat.

White papers are documents produced by governments to obtain views or set details of future policies.

It was recently reported that at least five Isis militants had returned and that police have arrested three of them.

The arrests included a “tier-one personality”, Mohamad Fauzi, known among his comrades as Abu Dayyan.

Last week, Deputy Home Minister Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said Malaysian Isis fighters were returning to spread militant ideology.

He said police checks showed that those who returned were not driven by disillusionment or the desire to surrender to the Malaysian authorities, but to influence and recruit others.

“The police are monitoring and they know, those who opted to return are doing so because they want to influence other Malaysians to join their cause, regardless if they are Muslims or not."

Thirty-nine Malaysians have been officially identified as being involved with Isis in Syria.

The New Straits Times, however, recently reported that there were 45 Malaysians in Syria and 15 in Iraq.

It also reported that police may have difficulty in tracing exactly how many have returned, as their departure to Syria was not properly tracked.

Between January and June this year, police arrested 23 people in various parts of Malaysia over alleged links to the terror group.

The Malaysians fighting alongside Isis forces in the Middle East were influenced to take up the struggle through social media, intelligence sources said previously.

Some, like former Kedah PAS Youth information chief Lotfi Ariffin who was killed in Syria, had not only posted about his activities with the militants on Facebook, but had issued call-to-action messages.

To date, five Malaysians have been killed in action.

- TMI