PUTRAJAYA, Nov 18 – The Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM) and the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) will proceed with the second phase of their joint exercise next year, as preparation to tackle security threats following the current global economic crisis.
ATM chief Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Zainal said several threats had been identified, following the economic crisis, such as increase in criminal cases, influx of negative foreign ideologies and the current political situation.
He said these required the ATM to work closely with other security agencies like the police, to tackle the challenges.
“We will probably set the date next year, as we all have our respective agendas and need to study other aspects,” he told reporters at the seminar on “Global Trends and Its Implication On Security”, jointly-organised by ATM and PDRM here today.
Also present were Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan and his deputy, Tan Sri Ismail Omar.
Abdul Aziz said the seminar was aimed at strengthening the cooperation between ATM and the police, not only in practice, but also in sharing information for more effective action.
Abdul Aziz said the influx of negative foreign ideologies such as Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) was openly discussed in the seminar.
“Several possible threats are also being studied and analysed in the seminar. We could then learn how they could be detected and tackled using possible security measures,” he said.
Meanwhile, Musa said the current global economic crisis would also push up the crime rate in the country, especially with the overflowing arrivals of illegal immigrants.
For that, he said, the police and armed forces should strengthen border controls and seek cooperation from all enforcement agencies, such as the Immigration and Customs departments, to establish an integrated action plan to safeguard borders.
On JI, Musa said the police had been monitoring the movement, especially after its leaders Imam Samudra, Amrozi Nurhasyim and Ali Ghufron were sentenced to death in Nusakambangan Prison, Indonesia early this month.
The trio were found guilty of the Bali bombing in 2002 which left 202
people dead.
The death sentence, however, had triggered dissatisfaction among their followers.
“Many are discontented. As a neighbouring country, we (Malaysia) believe that when they take a little too much on the ideology, it will become a threat.
“However, we are monitoring the situation closely so that it will not spread into the country,” he said, adding that the police were also eyeing the local scene, including the political situation. – Bernama
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