Ekip
23 February 2016•Update: 25 February 2016
By P Prem Kumar
KUALA LUMPUR
Malaysia’s premier has responded to a security alert issued by Australia by saying that it would have been appreciated if Australian authorities had shared the gathered information before warning of potential attacks in Kuala Lumpur.
Najib Razak assured Tuesday that efforts to guarantee public safety and security in Malaysia would not be taken lightly, and would have to be respected by all foreign countries.
"Countries which have information on terrorist threats in Malaysia are recommended to inform the authorities in Malaysia and not to cause public disorder,” he said in a Facebook post.
"We have never ignored any information and intelligence report that we received," he stressed.
The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade had warned in a statement Sunday that potential violence “could be indiscriminate and may target Western interests or locations frequented by Westerners.”
Razak said Tuesday that security in major tourist attraction areas in the capital and other states has been beefed up by a joint patrolling team comprised of the military and police.
Around 170 personnel from each of the forces conducted 24-hour patrols in areas of public concentration in Kuala Lumpur, which would continue for as long as the federal government deemed necessary, according to Razak.
Malaysian police had raised alert levels to the highest following a Deash-linked attack in neighboring Indonesia that left eight people dead last month, and listed seven potential hotspots for Daesh attack.
The force had also nabbed a suspected Daesh-linked militant in Kuala Lumpur, saying the arrest occurred just hours before a planned nighttime suicide bombing at an entertainment venue in the Bukit Bintang tourist area.
The Australian statement had also reiterated its advice that nationals reconsider traveling to the coast of eastern Sabah state, a region with beachside resorts and surrounded by waters where Philippines-based militant groups and kidnap gangs operate.
