Malaysia objects to being held responsible for existence of bombing masterminds

Malaysia objected to being held responsible for the existence of Dr Azahari and Noordin Moh Top, two Malaysian nationals strongly believed to have masterminded a series of terrorist bomb attacks in Indonesia, local media reported on Sunday.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said here on Saturday that there were people who immediately pointed their fingers at Malaysia as soon as the names of the two Malaysians came into the spotlight "as if it was the Malaysian government that was sponsoring them," official news agency Antara reported.

Malaysia itself was also trying hard to catch Azahari and Noordin, but it was difficult because they traveled across Southeast Asia which was so vast, enabling them to hide anywhere, said Albar, who led an UMNO (United Malay National Organization) delegation to Jakarta to meet with the executive and advisory boards of the National Awakening Party (PKB).

"If they are in Malaysia, we assure you, they will be arrested, " Hamid Albar said.

On the international perception which related terrorism acts with Islamic religion, he said this was a mistake by the western worlds which had little understanding of Islamic teachings.

Therefore, the minister said, the perception must be erased by asking western world to straighten it out.

He said he recently met a US official dealing with contra- terrorism issues.

"I said, the US and western countries need to straighten out their perceptions and stances by using terms which non Moslems understood comprehensively...Moslems have been labeled improperly, " the minister said.

Top Malaysian fugitives Azahari and Noordin were thought to be the masterminds behind the 2002 and 2005 Bali bombings, the 2003 Marriot Hotel bombings and the 2004 Australian Embassy bombings, which marred Indonesia as an unstable nation.

Source: Xinhua