KMM -Nik Abdul Nik Aziz

                                                                

                                                                 

Several names have been linked to the author but one prominent name, based on the writings and picture, was Zainon Ismail, 45. Zainon has been arrested with seven others for alleged involvement in MalaysiaKumpulan Mujahideen (KMM), a local militant religious group with international links, under the Internal Security Act.The eight, aged between 32 and 45, were picked up  in Terengganu, Perak, Kedah and Johor last week.

A former PAS branch committee member, Zainon was involved in raising funds for families of party members who died in the Memali incident but was sacked following a dispute over alleged misappropriation of  funds.In the 1985 incident, 18 people including four  policemen were killed in Memali, Baling, during the  clash of followers of Ibrahim Libya, PAS member, who believed jihad was the only way to topple the  Government.

                                                                        
The ISA detainees were allegedly linked to the murder  of Lunas assemblyman Dr. Joe  Fernandez last year, and also believed to be responsible for bombing a church  and a Hindu temple and the attack on Guar Chempedak  police station on February 4.Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Norian Mai said the seven were Sungai  Benut PAS branch chief Noorashid Sakid, Larut PAS  Youth committee member Ahmad Tajuddin Abu Bakar,  Solihan Abdul Ghafar, Alias Ngah, Abu Bakar Che Dol,  Asfawani Abdullah and Ahmad Pozi Darman.


Nik  Abdul  Nik  Aziz 

The latest arrested we Nik Adli Abdul Aziz, son of Kelantan Menteri Besar Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat, and  Mohd Lothfi Ariffin from Kedah. Nik Aziz has admitted  that his 34-year-old son went to Afghanistan to

support the Muslims there in the struggle against the  Russian invasion. Members of the KMM were said to have  received military training and fought in the holy war  in Afghanistan and also in Ambon, Indonesia.

 

The same day PAS President Datuk Fadzil Noor described  the allegations of PAS members being involved in military training in Afghanistan as 搘ild and  serious�.Fadzil said the party was surprised that  there was no evidence from the authorities to back their claims. Although the police have claimed that the KMM is responsible for several incidents, it must  now come up with more details of their actions.

                                                                                                         

It is to the advantage of the Home Ministry to release  these details as some are likely to question why such  a preventive action was necessary, instead of charging  them in court. PAS is naturally defensive about any attempt to link the party to such militants but it  cannot be denied that its brand of politics will  attract members of such political inclinations. Many of  those involved would surely support an Islamic state, advocated  by the Islamist party.

                                                              
                                                                   

Initial investigations have shown that the KMM members  were trained to use automatic rifles and rocket launchers an also in assembling homemade bombs. It is understood that the police that the police were investigating the link between the Malaysian mujahideen and those involved in the Southern Bank  robbery in Jalan Gasing, Petaling Jaya, on May 18.


The robbers included a graduate from the University of  Arkansas and from a university in Karachi, Pakistan.  Following the incident, police picked up another nine  members of the group in June, with arrests in Kedah,  Perak, Selangor and Kuala Lumpur. Most of them were graduates in Islamic studies and business.


Police were also led to a large cache of firearms and ammunition from a hideout of the group in Puchong. The cache included an M16 assault rifle, five magazine clips loaded with 5.56mm ammunition, a revolver and a pistol, home made bombs, several half assembled  home-made-bombs and an assortment of chemicals and  paraphernalia in assembling bombs.

Zin Mahmud, now an Utusan Malaysia journalist, was  working as an editor with Dunia Islam, when he wrote  the foreword in the book. He said many of the Malays  took part in the war in Afghanistan. Providing a  background of the book, Zin said some Malays mati syahid (were martyred) in their participation while  others returned home. The writer, interestingly, wrote  of the contacts he made with mujahid from Egypt, Saudi  Arabia, the Philippines and Pakistan during his Afghan stint.

                                                                        

There will be many skeptics who will challenge the  police to charge the detainees in court, but the same  kind of disbelief also surfaced during the incident in  Sauk involving the Al-Maunah group. But there are plenty of questions which the public want answers to.  They include the involvement of these mujahids  after they returned from Afghanistan, their link with  overseas groups and local political groups as well as the bank robbery.

                                                               

A comprehensive report of the KMM would rebut any charges that the arrests were politically motivated or whether these mujahids, like some former commandos have turned to a life of crime. A White Paper on the

activities of the KMM should eventually be tabled in Parliament to provide the details of the group.