Militant threat in SEA declining: Najib

KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama) – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the threat of Islamic militants in Southeast Asia has receded quite substantially due the efforts from other nations in the region.

He said that the cooperation between Malaysia and the other countries including Indonesia and the Philippines had helped to tackle al-Qaeda-linked groups.

Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak during an interview with Fareed Zakaria from CNN at the ongoing World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, Jan 25. BERNAMA

“I think most of them (the countries) are behind us. I think we’ve dealt with radical Islam,” he told a CNN televised session entitled ‘An Insight, An Idea with Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak’ at the ongoing World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.

In the 30-minute interview which was anchored by Fareed Zakaria, the Prime Minister also pointed out Malaysia’s involvement in hosting peace talks between the Philippine Government and the rebels, Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and its deployment of troops to head an international truce-monitoring force in the region.

The Philippine government signed an accord last October with the MILF, who had been fighting for more than 40 years and had cost about 120,000 lives.

“This means that the whole potential of that area being radicalised, being linked up with al-Qaeda directly or through the various groups, has been eliminated.