Malaysian Marwan believed to mastermind latest bomb attacks in south Philippines

Filepix shows a fire following an alleged explosion from a homemade bomb at a main road of Cotabato City, southern Philippines on Aug 5, 2013.

Malaysian terror leader Zulkifli bin Hir, better known as Marwan, is suspected to be the mastermind behind a series of recent bomb attacks in Maguindanao region in southern Philippines.

With a US$5mil (RM15mil) bounty on his head, Marwan, who was once presumed killed in a military air strike in Jolo last year, is reported to be hiding out with a breakaway Moro rebel group which has claimed responsibility for the bombings.

Marwan, a leader of Jemaah Islamiyah with direct links to global terror network of Al-Qadea and listed by FBI as one of the most wanted terrorist in the world, is believed to be together with another Indonesian JI operative.

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Remain calm, Sabahans told - Sulu revenge letter

Sabahans should remain calm as the au thorities remain vigilant over public safety.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the people should not be unduly worried over a letter pur portedly sent by Sulu militants threatening to launch an attack in Tambunan.

He said they should not believe in rumours which had been spreading after the letter was sent to Tambunan District Office recently.

“It is true that we have received the letter which carries the threat of terrorists from Sulu to invading Sabah. They say they will enter next month.

“I do not believe that it is a genuine letter from the terrorists and it is somewhat funny as no one would provide a date for them to come and cause violence. I consider it (the letter) as false,” he said after visiting several policemen being treated at Universiti Sains Malaysia Hospital in Kubang Kerian here.

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Cops investigating letter allegedly from Sulu militants seeking revenge

Sabah state police have initiated investigations over a letter purportedly written by Sulu militants stating that they will come to Tambunan, in Sabah’s interior, for a revenge attack.

Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib said Saturday that the police were tracing the source of the letter even though it was suspected it has nothing to do with the Sulu intrusion in Lahad Datu earlier this year.

"We have started our own investigations even though they have been no official police reports," Hamza said when contacted by telephone.

He said that police did not believe that the author of the letter had any links to the Sulu militants, and had acted of his own accord.

The authenticity of the letter is doubted, he added.

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MMEA keeping close watch on attempts by four escaped Indonesian terror suspects crossing to Malaysia

The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) is keeping a close watch on any attempts by four escaped Indonesian terror suspects to cross over into Malaysia's borders.

Agency director Maritime Admiral Datuk Mond Amdan Kurish said they have already begun more stringent checks on vessels crossing into Malaysian waters.

"We are fully aware of it, and we are keeping tabs on any suspicious movement from the other side," he said at a press conference at the agency's headquarters here Wednesday.

About a week ago, four terror suspects were among 200 people who broke out of a prison in the city of Medan on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

The prison break happened during a riot, which local authorities said was sparked by dissatisfaction among prisoners over a power outage and frequent disruptions to water supply.

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Jeffrey tells RCI he was given list of 60,000 illegals who had ICs

A list containing the names of 60,000 illegal immigrants who were issued identity cards in Sabah was handed by an officer from the National Registration Department (NRD) to Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan, the Royal Commission of Inquiry on illegals in Sabah heard today.

Jeffrey, who is the Bingkor assemblyman, told the inquiry that the list was handed to him in 1990 by an NRD officer who wanted something done about the way the identity cards were being issued to illegal immigrants.

“An NRD officer invited me into a room to talk to me personally. He told me that he was very, very sad as he was a Muslim but could not believe that such an incident was happening in Malaysia,” the president of the STAR party recalled.

“The officer handed me a stack of documents and told me that it contained the names of illegal immigrants who had been issued identity cards. These immigrants were going to be included in the electoral roll once they had registered.

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Government spends RM84.9 million on Ops Daulat

The Defence Ministry spent a whopping RM84.9 million in Ops Daulat to resolve the intrusion of Sulu terrorists in Lahad Datu earlier this year, Parliament heard today.

Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein also told MPs that 5,610 army personnel were involved in the Ops Daulat operation.

He said this while responding to Sabak Bernam MP Mohd Fasiah Mohd Fakeh, where the latter had asked what was being done to ensure the Lahad Datu incident does not happen again.

Ops Daulat, which was launched on March 5, eight policemen and two soldiers were killed while Malaysian security forces shot dead 68 armed intruders from the southern Philippines and arrested 173 people under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012. - July 4, 2013.

Good and bad, Malaysian MPs on display today

Today, Malaysians got a glimpse of the best and worst of what their Members of Parliament can offer.

Both elected representatives who were in the limelight were from Sabah but their performance was as different as night and day.

In the best tradition of standing up to the drivel from the front bench was Kalabakan MP Datuk Seri Abdul Ghapur Salleh. Usually, the BN backbenchers go easy on their ministers and deputy ministers from the ruling coalition but Abdul Ghapur threw away that convention after hearing Deputy Home Minister Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar give a tepid, and frankly ridiculous explanation on why the Malaysian government was slow to react to the invasion by Sulu fighters into Sabah.

Since the intruders were from Philippines, the government had to consult Manila in the spirit of Asean, said the deputy minister.

"We needed to cooperate with them before doing anything, " he said, not expecting what was to happen next.

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Lahad Datu: Police detective nabbed after his phone was tapped

Malaysian police were intercepting the telephone calls of one of its Special Branch personnel soon after a group of people wearing camouflage uniforms were spotted at Kampung Tanduo, a remote coastal village in Lahad Datu district last February.

The High Court here heard on Tuesday that police had also intercepted the telephone conversations of other individuals between two men identified as Datu Amir Bahar and Raja Muda.

A Kuala Lumpur-based Special Branch administrative assistant told Judge Ravinthran Paramaguru that she was tasked to listen to the recordings of the intercepted calls to be translated and transcribed into Bahasa Malaysia.

Testifying as a protected witness on the second day of the trial of Detective Kpl Hassan Ali Basari, the Special Branch administrative assistant said the intercepted calls she had listened to and translated were in Suluk.


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Lahad Datu: Esscom dismisses claims of clashes with 400 Sulu gunmen

Malaysia has dismissed claims by Philippines media of clashes between security forces and some 400 Sulu gunmen in the east coast Lahad Datu district.

Eastern Sabah Security Command director (Esscom) director Datuk Mohamad Mantek told The Star Tuesday that claims of clashes were "absurd."

"No such thing happened," he said, adding that an incident of such magnitude would not have gone unnoticed.

"There were no intrusions and neither were there movements of people. Nothing at all," he said.

Such claims were mischievous and meant to cause unease, he added.

Mohamad said the public should check with the nearest police station or Esscom should they come across such claims.

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SOSMA duo rearrested for terrorism, says lawyer

Yazid Sufaat and Muhammad Hilmi Hasim were rearrested for terrorism this morning under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (SOSMA) 2012 despite the High Court throwing out similar charges last week for inciting terrorism in Syria, their lawyer said today.

Yazid’s lawyer Fadiah Nadwa Fikri said today that they were arrested under section 130K(a) of the Penal Code, which falls under SOSMA, for harbouring terrorists for terrorist activities, but said it was unknown if Halimah Hussein, who had also been charged under the security law, was rearrested as well.

“It’s mala fide definitely,”

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British soldier hacked to death by Muslim terrorist

A police forensics officer takes photographs inside a cordoned off area in Woolwich, east London, on May 22, 2013, following an incident in which one man was killed and two others seruiously injured. British police shot and wounded two men after a man thought to be a serving soldier was killed outside a London barracks, in an attack Prime Minister David Cameron called "truly shocking". In a dramatic move, the government's emergency response committee was being summoned following the killing which some eyewitness reports suggested was an attempted beheading using machete-like knives.

British soldier was hacked to death by two men shouting Islamic slogans in a south London street on Wednesday, in what the government said appeared to be a terrorist.

A dramatic clip filmed by an onlooker just minutes after the killing showed a man with hands covered in blood, brandishing a bloodied meat cleaver and a knife.

"We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you. The only reason we have done this is because Muslims are dying every day," the black man in his 20s or 30s, wearing a wool jacket and jeans and speaking with a local accent, shouted in the footage obtained by Britain's ITV news channel.

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Local woman among eight charged with terrorism Lahad Dadu Jamalul Kiram's nephew, woman among those charged over Sulu gunmen intrusion

Two locals and eight Filipinos were charged with various terrorist offences in a closed High Court proceeding at the Tawau prison today.

Among them was a local woman who faces a possible life imprisonment upon conviction of harbouring a group of terrorists.

Norhaida Ibnahi, 46, was charged under Section 130K of the Penal Code with harbouring a group of terrorists between February 9 and March 22 at an unnumbered house in Kampung Sri Melor, Bugaya, Semporna.

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LAHAD DATU: Defence ministry identified three opposition leaders as culprits

Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said two of three suspects were leaders from the opposition parties based in the Peninsula while the other is in Sabah



The Defence Ministry has identified three opposition leaders as culprits behind the armed intrusion by Sulu terrorist in Lahad Datu, Sabah.

Its minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said two of three suspects were leaders from the opposition parties based in the Peninsula while the other is in Sabah.

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8-year-old and restaurant manager among bomb victims

Eight-year-old Martin Richard had just gotten ice cream and was near the Boston Marathon finish line, eagerly watching for friends to run by. Krystle Campbell was enjoying the race with her best friend, hoping to get a photo of the other woman’s boyfriend after he conquered the last mile.

Then the unthinkable struck.

The spirited 8-year-old, pictured on Facebook in his classroom holding a sign that read “No more hurting people,” was dead, along with the outgoing 29-year-old woman and a graduate student from China — victims of twin bombs that turned a scene of celebration into chaos.

More than 170 others suffered injuries that included severed limbs, shrapnel wounds and abdominal lacerations.

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Terror attack at Boston Marathon, 3 dead , 141 injured

Bloodbath in Boston as two explosions rock finish line of iconic Boston Marathon race at around 2.50 p.m. as race was winding down

At least three people confirmed dead and 141 people injured - with up to a eight critically ill - 14 in a serious condition - many amputations reported by city hospitals

Hospitals reporting they were removing ball bearings from victims

It has been reported that an eight-year-old boy was one of the two people confirmed dead in the blast

Two detonations came 12-seconds apart - with witnesses describing scenes of utter 'pandemonium'

New York City stepping up anti-terror efforts in wake of attack and have tightened security around popular destinations like Times Square

FBI officially classifying bombings as terrorist attack, but President Obama said it is important to 'get to the bottom of this' before classifying it

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Sulu militants said to have set up guerilla base in Sabah

Handout file photo of Malaysian troops on patrol to flush out the militants in Sabah.

The followers of the sultanate of Sulu have set up a guerilla base in the hinterlands of Sabah after eluding Malaysian authorities for several weeks.

The Philippine Star reported, citing sultanate spokesman Abraham Idjirani, that the Malaysian military and police knew about the base but could not pinpoint the exact location because the jungle in the area is vast.

It reported Idjirani as saying yesterday that the new stronghold was in a strategic location with enough sources of food and water, and with adequate shelter for nearly 500 men.

The base was reported to Idjirani during a conversation the other day with Agbimuddin Kiram, the sultanate-appointed rebel leader now hiding in Sabah.

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Sabah is safe, no threats- Armed Forces chief

Armed Forces Chief Gen Tan Sri Zulkifeli Mohd Zain assured Malaysians and the international community that Sabah and the state's east coast was free of terrorist threat.

He said he and Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar would like the public to know that the areas are safe and everything will be done to ensure the situation continues to remain safe.

"I would like everyone to know that Sabah and Sabah's east coast are safe and we've eradicated any threat," he told reporters after briefing Chinese community leaders on the safety situation, here, today.


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First success for Esszone against the Sulu invaders

A GROUP of 32 armed intruders had a taste of the effectiveness of the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (Esszone) operations are when they were nabbed 22km off Pulau Tambisan, near Lahad Datu, early yesterday.

Security in the waters off the east coast of Sabah had been intensified with the setting up of Esszone last month and this group was the first to be nabbed trying to breach the border.

Checks revealed that the 32 were from Southern Philippines and that they were armed. Security forces seized firearms, machetes, axes and several unspecified documents.

'Datuk Seri’ arrested suspect in funding the Sulu intruders

BEFORE SURRENDERING: Muhammad Ridzwan speaking to reporters before giving himself up at Ampang police headquarters

A "DATUK SERI" from Penang has declared that he had funded the "Sultan of Sulu" but denied financing the armed incursion into Sabah as police made headway into the money trail of the terrorists who invaded the state.

Muhammad Ridzwan Sulaiman, who was arrested under the Security Measures (Special Offences) Act (Sosma) yesterday, claimed he had helped "Sultan" Muedzul Lail Tan Kiram to lift the lot of the poor Sulu Muslims.

Investigations are under way to determine the amount of money Muhammad Ridzwan had sent to the Philippines and when he began the "charity drive".



It was not immediately known where had he received the title of "Datuk Seri" from but initial checks showed it was an award from the Sulu sultanate.

Police sources said several other Malaysians were also being investigated for allegedly funding Sulu militants who went on a rampage after they first landed at Kampung Tanduo, Lahad Datu, on Feb 12.

Lahad Datu: Blood splattered bodies of Sulu gunmen removed

Religious officers remove the three bodies of Sulu gunmen left lying on walkway of Kg Simunul in Semporna, Sabah. Kg Simunul faces an exodus as residents fearing for their lives and safety leave the village.