PAS: Arab report a ploy to make Hadi look like a terrorist

PETALING JAYA: PAS has rejected an Arab news report citing connections between an alleged terror group with its president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang.

Party deputy president Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said it was a mere ploy to make Hadi “look like a terrorist” with his International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) declared as an organisation supporting terrorism.

He said such allegations were baseless “just because Hadi is aligned with renowned Muslim scholar Dr Yusuf Al-Qardawi”.

“The report is baseless and smells of a conspiracy. If that was the case, Hadi would have been arrested a long time ago,” he said.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun, when contacted, said he was aware of the listing.

He said Bukit Aman will be monitoring developments. “As far as Malaysia is concerned, there is no threat from his (Hadi’s) involvement in the group,” he said.

They were commenting on the report which stated that the IUMS, in which Hadi is vice-president, had been declared a terror group by the Anti-Terror Quarter of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

In a statement released through the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the quartet identified the other entity as the International Islamic Council “Massaa”. Eleven individuals were also named for their alleged role in supporting terrorism.

The report described the two listed entities as terrorist organisations working to promote terrorism through the exploitation of Islamic discourse and its use as a cover to facilitate various terrorist activities.

The Qatar-based IUMS was formed in 2004 and is headed by the influential Dr Yusuf, who has also been named by the Saudis for links to terrorism.

The quartet had severed ties with Doha on June 4, accusing it of supporting terrorism.

Hadi had earlier this week lashed out at Sunni-Shia sectarianism, saying he would choose Qatar, Turkey and Iran over other Arab powers in the Middle East.

Dewan Ulama chief Datuk Dr Mahfodz Mohamed said the Malaysian government had not listed IUMS as a terrorist organisation. “It is obvious that it is a malicious report to discredit the union that is led by Dr Yusuf, who has been branded a terrorist just because he is based in Qatar,” he said.