Bukit Aman may consider freeze of KMM members' assets

KUALA LUMPUR Sept 8 - The Royal Malaysia Police will only undertake to freeze the assets of the 10 Jemaah Islamiah (JI) members in the country after discussions with the Attorney-General's Chambers, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Norian Mai said Monday.

He said that the Bukit Aman police headquarters was now waiting for the official request from the United States for their assets to be frozen.

If there was such a request, the police would discuss with the Attorney-General to initiate the freezing of their assets, he told a media conference after opening a crime prevention seminar here.

The US has blacklisted 10 people involved in the Kumpulan Militan Malaysia (KMM), an offshoot of the JI.

They are Sulaiman Abas, Dr Azahari Husin, Zulkifli Abdul Hir, Lt Kol (Rtd) Abdul Manaf Kasmuri, Zulkifli Marzuki, Amran Mansour, Yazid Sufaat, Noordin Mohamed Top, Wan Min Wan Mat and Zaini Zakaria.

Seven of them are being detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) and three others are believed to be seeking refuge in Indonesia.

Those detained in Malaysia are Sulaiman, Abdul Manaf, Zulkifli Marzuki, Amran, Yazid, Wan Min and Zaini while Azahari, Zulkifli Abdul Hir and Noordin are believed to be hiding in Indonesia.

The blacklisting, if under the initiative of the United Nations, allows for the freezing of their assets as such a directive is applicable to Malaysia, a member country of the UN.

Asked whether the assets in the country of the mastermind of the Bali bombing, Ridzuan Isamudin alias Hambali, an Indonesian, would also be frozen, he said that Malaysia would do so if there was a request from the US.

Hambali is married to a Sabahan, Noralwizah Lee Abdullah, and has lived in Malaysia. He was arrested in Ayutthaya, Thailand, on Aug 11 and is now under the custody of the US at an undisclosed location.

Norian said that Noralwizah had been very cooperative with the police during interrogation on the activities of the JI.

However, Norian said, the police was still waiting for US permission to interrogate Hambali.

"We believe that whatever statement he will make will definitely assist us in our probe on the JI set up in this country," he said.

"We've succeeded in placing under arrest 92 members of the JI and KMM. The majority of them are JI (members)...I estimate around 200 JI members are in the country," he said.

The IGP said that the police cannot detain all of them indiscriminately, without conducting a thorough investigation, on a case by case basis.

He said that 60 of them had been confirmed to be JI members and the rest were under surveillance by the Special Branch.