KUALA LUMPUR: The reason he revealed that Malaysian leaders were targetted by the Islamic State was to instil urgency in the fight against terror groups, said Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein (pic).
On Sunday, Hishammuddin said that he was among the Cabinet ministers who were targeted by IS, and reminded the authorities not to take the threat posed by these groups lightly.
“I see certain areas in this region are not being managed well, particularly southern Thailand and southern Philippines, not to mention the free movement of peoples and smuggling of weapons.
“These are all issues which need to be taken seriously based on recent developments in Europe and the Middle East,” Hishammuddin told a press conference in Parliament on Monday.
He described the IS-led attacks in Paris on Friday as “shocking and despicable”, but not surprising.
“Do not think that a similar fate won’t befall us in Malaysia,” he said.
Asked of the other Malaysian leaders who were on the IS ‘hit-list’, Hishammuddin said he could not reveal the names.
“I can only speak for myself but this is information based on intelligence that isn’t new. Maybe they are trying to scare us, but actually it gives us greater motivation to fight them,” he said.
Hishammuddin said there was no reason for any country to be afraid or to bow to terror groups like IS.
“If we allow them to rampage openly, we will be forced to deal with a situation where they are in control, and this we cannot allow,” he added.
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