Foreign Fighters Act is important, says IGP

SUBANG JAYA: The Foreign Fighters Act is an important tool needed to stop Malaysians involved in Islamic State (IS) activities in Syria.
"This new law is for terrorism activities. We really need it to take actions against Malaysians who went to Syria. Without this law, it is very difficult for us to take actions against them as they are committing their activities there," Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said at a press conference after officiating the Balai League Table (BLT) 2014 Awards today.
On Wednesday, police arrested a 30-year-old Malaysian who was about to leave for Brunei to get married to a Malaysian girl there who was working as a teacher, before heading to Turkey and Syria to join IS.
The suspect, who was from Terengganu, was picked up at about 5.30am at KL International Airport (KLIA).
"This man was a former coach for National Service in Kuantan, Pahang. We're also investigating whether he also influenced any National Service students or workers to join him in Syria," told Khalid.
Khalid added the suspect was influenced to join IS via Facebook when he started building a connection with the IS members who were detained by police before this.
"It is difficult to shut down any social media site but we always keep an eye on their activities," said Khalid.
Investigations revealed that the suspect had connections with Md Lotfi Ariffin who was killed in Syria on Sept 14.
With this latest arrest, police have detained 49 Malaysians for being involved in IS.
During the event, Khalid also mentioned about the crime index from January to November this year which decreased by 12.6% nationwide.
However, snatch-theft crimes increased by 17%.
"Three states which have high cases for snatch theft are KL, Penang and Perak," he added.