Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein has revealed that militant group Islamic State (IS) has targeted the country’s three top leaders, who they plan to kidnap and use as pawns for a barter trade.
Speaking to The Star, he said the information had been obtained during the interrogation of IS cell members, who said the plan would be to use the kidnap victims as a trade-off for the release of imprisoned IS militants.
He however declined to name the three leaders although it is widely believed to be the prime minister, his deputy and the minister of defence himself.
He said the IS remained the “biggest threat” to national security and that the government was doing all in its power to keep on top of things.
“They are trying to scare us and hijack the true face of Islam,” he said, adding that the attraction to IS was somewhat phenomenal and never before experienced.
“It is not like the draw of al-Qaeda or Jemaah Islamiyah. They are different from other terrorist groups, they have the money, arms and sophisticated communications especially in the social media.
“If we are not careful, what Paris and Europe is facing could happen in our country. My concern is that any fault line, whether racial, religious or political leaves a vacuum for groups like IS to exploit. No country has the answer yet on how to deal with it – not America, China or the Arabs.”
