THE Special Branch Counter Terrorism unit (E8) had detained a man who admitted to wanting to kill several prominent leaders just before the country was put under the movement-control order last year, said Azman Omar.

The unit assistant director said the man had confessed to planning a lone wolf attack on former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, ex-finance minister Lim Guan Eng, former attorney-general Tommy Thomas and ex-minister in the prime minister’s department Mujahid Yusof Rawa.

They were senior officials of the then Pakatan Harapan government, which was toppled in late February and replaced by Perikatan Nasional in March.

“He wanted to stab them with a knife in a lone wolf attack. We managed to stop him from committing the crime in January 2020 a few months before the country was put under lockdown,” Azman told an online forum this morning

The forum was on the threats of radicalism and extremism during the pandemic.

Azman told the forum that the E8 unit only made seven arrests in 2020.

“Unlike the year before, we made more than ten raids and arrests. In 2018, we conducted 109 raids and arrests. The number varies.

“In 2020 apart from the man who wanted to launch the lone wolf attack, we also detained five men supporting Daesh (Islamic state) in January and in August we arrested a man in Singapore with the help from Singaporean police,” Azman added.

Azman later told the forum that the situation is currently under control.

“The sympathisers became demotivated after the death of Islamic State leader Abu Bakar al-Baghdadi as well as the death of many Malaysian fighters in Syria.

“The mood has flattened and the death of Abu Bakar has affected many. It is now a lost cause for them,” said Azman.

Azman told the forum that there are now 56 Malaysians stranded in Syria.

“19 men, 12 women and 25 children. The men are in two prison camps, the women are in two refugee or humanitarian camps along with the children,” he said.

Previously, E8 sources told The Malaysian Insight that efforts to bring home all 56 Malaysians have hit a wall.

“The problem now is that those who are controlling the camps and prisons are not affiliated with the Syrian government and Malaysia does not recognise them. We do not have a diplomatic relationship with the group.

“So efforts to bring the Malaysians home have hit a wall but we are still working closely with our foreign counterparts and other intelligence groups,” said a source.

Today’s forum was organised by The International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies (IAIS) Malaysia.

Other speakers were founding IAIS Malaysia chief executive officer Prof Mohammad Hashim Kamali, Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia secretary-general KH Yahya Cholil Staquf and Universiti Islam Antarabangsa academic Ahmad El-Muhammady. – March 25, 2021.