PETALING JAYA, Malaysia - The US State Department has
praised Malaysia's political will in combating the threat of terrorism,
particularly the influence of Islamic State (IS) and foreign terrorists.
In its Country Reports on Terrorism 2014, it singled out
Malaysia's laws as being able to curb the threat of terrorism and its
commitment towards strengthening border security to prevent terrorist transit.
"Malaysia's existing legal system is capable of
disrupting terrorist plots before they are carried out, and before fighters
travel to foreign conflicts.
"Malaysia continued to participate in the Department's
Anti-terrorism Assistance programme, with programmes focused on strengthening
law enforcement capacity to secure Malaysia's borders from terrorist
transit," said the report, which was released yesterday.
The Bureau of Counter-terrorism, which prepared the annual
report for Congress, also said that Malaysia was not a terrorist safe haven.
But it said Malaysia had reason to be concerned about the
activities of violent extremist groups operating in isolated areas of the
Sulawesi seas bordering the Sulu Archipelago and Southern Philippines.
These areas were listed as terrorist safe havens in the
annual report, as they represented vast areas that were difficult to secure.
"Although Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines have
improved efforts to control their shared maritime boundaries - including
through US-funded efforts to enhance domain awareness in the waters south and
southwest of 
Mindanao - the expanse remained difficult to control," it
said.
Mindanao - the expanse remained difficult to control," it
said.
One significant challenge for Malaysia listed in the report
was the strengthening of co-operation between enforcement agencies and
prosecutors from the outset of an investigation as authorities were unable to
file charges on nearly half of terrorism-related arrests.
It also praised Malaysia's well-developed framework to
counter financing of terrorism, given fears that the country was becoming a
terrorist finance hub.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak presented a White
Paper in Parliament last November proposing a new anti-terror law to curb the
global threat of IS
and violent extremism.
Source: The S
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