KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will work with Indonesia to ensure that suicide bombers believed to have been recruited by Asia’s most wanted terrorists, Dr Azahari Husin and Noordin Mat Top, do not cross the border.
Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said the Government would take necessary action against them if they were caught in Malaysia.
“We are willing to co-operate with them (the Indonesians) in any way so that these people do not cross the border. Indonesia has worked very hard and been successful in narrowing down the areas where they might be,” he told reporters after launching three publications, on practices in international diplomacy and foreign relations, at the Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations.
He was commenting on the Indonesian government’s list of suicide bombers believed to be at large following last week’s blast at the Australian embassy and the offer of a 1bil rupiah (RM421,800) reward each for information on the whereabouts of Dr Azahari and Noordin.
Both men are also blamed for last year's J.W. Marriott Hotel blast, which killed 12 people, the Bali bombings which claimed 202 lives in 2002.
On Jemaah Islamiah (JI), the regional terrorist group linked to al-Qaeda, Syed Hamid said the recent blast was a warning to Malaysia and its neighbouring countries to remain watchful and ready to stop the terrorists’ activities.
“We must not rest on our laurels because they may have cells. After a lull for so long, there was a state of satisfaction over the successful actions taken to monitor activities by the various terrorist groups. But the recent incident is a warning that we have to continuously work and monitor them,” he added.
Syed Hamid also said Malaysia’s Iraq reconnaissance team would first go to the countries in the Gulf region to collect more information before the Government decides to send a medical team to Baghdad.
He said the team, comprising Wisma Putra and military officials, would not enter Iraq.
“The date of their departure has not been set. They will go at the right time.
“Their mission is to collate reliable information to enable us to make a decision about what we want to do. We also need to see what the security situation is like there,” he added.
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