Malaysian Foreign Ministry should lodge a formal protest with the United States Government over  the FBI report describing  Malaysia as “one of the primary operational launch pads” for the September 11 attacks

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Media Statement
by Lim Kit Siang

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Newsweek, in its Feb 4 edition, cited a secret Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) report as saying Malaysia was a "primary operational launchpad" for the terror attacks.

There had been two strong denials by the Malaysian government to the Newsweek story on the FBI report, viz:
 

• The incredulity and indignation of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad who countered that the actual launch pad for the September 11 terrorist attacks was the US itself; and
• The dismissal of suggestions that Kumpulan Militant Malaysia (KMM) is a cell of al-Qaeda, accused of carrying out the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, by the Foreign Minister, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar when in London  attending a meeting of the Commonwealth Committee on Terrorism early in the week.


Rais’ threat that the government is considering legal action against Newsweek is becoming irrelevant as virtually all major US and international news networks, both printed and electronic, have not only given  prominent coverage to the Newsweek  report, there have been new US media reports in the past few days developing the issue further, as for instance:
 

• USA TODAY of  30th January 2002 reporting that the new FBI report described Malaysia as ''one of the primary operational launch pads'' for the September 11 terrorist attacks as “Preparations for the September 11 attacks on the United States took place in Kuala Lumpur” and that US leaders “increasingly see Malaysia as a key front in the war on terrorism”.
• NEW YORKS TIMES of 31st January 2002  under the headline “Suspect calls Malaysia a Staging Area for Terror Attacks” reporting that the United States Government is negotiating with the Malaysian Government to extradite Yazid Sufaat, 37, the  former army captain detained in Kedah on December 9 last year and one of the 23 held  under the Internal Security Act for allegedly being involved in the second militant wing of KMM. Bush Administration officials in the US were quoted as describing Sufaat as “an operative of al Qaeda” who “appeared to have operated as a paymaster for (Zacarias) Moussaoui “,  French national of Moroccan descent and the  only man charged so far in connection with the Sept 11 attacks.

What is a matter of concern is whether apart from objecting to the description of Malaysia as "a primary operational launchpad" for the 911 terrorist attacks, the Malaysian authorities are challenging the   facts and contents of the Newsweek and other reports, particularly with regard to Yazid, the meeting of two of the 19 suicide hijackers with other al-Qaeda members in Yazid’s condominium in Kuala Lumpur and Yazid’s links with Moussaoui.

Furthermore, if these facts are not very much disputed by the Malaysian authorities, why Malaysians had not been informed about them in the local media and had to read the foreign media for information about their own country.

The Malaysian police and government  should stop their short-sighted communications policy in trying to  impose censorship on information, and measure up to the challenge of a new media environment of the borderless world  where  information though  blacked out in the local media could still be immediately accessed by Malaysians once they appear in any foreign media, printed or electronic.

The real issues at stake is not what appeared in the foreign media, but the new FBI report describing Malaysia as ''one of the primary operational launch pads'' for the September 11 terrorist attacks and whether the Bush Administration is demanding the extradition of Yazid Sufaat to the United States on the ground of his role in the September 11 attacks.

The Malaysian Foreign Ministry should lodge a formal protest with the United States Government over  the FBI report describing  Malaysia as “one of the primary operational launch pads” for the September 11 attacks and the Prime Minister should use his forthcoming visit to the United States to demand a full retraction and correction of the FBI report and an apology from the FBI.

The Malaysian Government should also issue a statement to clarify its  position on the New York Times report on the US government’s demand for the extradition of Yazid Sufaat and whether this would be rejected by Malaysia.

(1/2/2002)