SYDNEY • The Malaysian government will not be making arrangements to bring back the body of militant Muhammad Wanndy Mohamed Jedi who was killed in Syria last month, said Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Datuk Seri Zahid, who is also Home Minister, said Wanndy's family was free to make private arrangements to do so with those in charge in Syria, Bernama reported.
"The Malaysian government was informed by international intelligence of the death of Muhammad Wanndy in a drone attack. It has no intention to make arrangements to bring back the body," he told reporters on Tuesday while on a visit to Australia. "The family of Muhammad Wanndy can arrange to do that with the authorities in Syria."
The death followed news last week that Muhammad Wanndy's wife had lamented his demise in a Facebook post.
At the time, police said it had yet to determine whether the 27-year old was really killed in a drone strike as claimed, or whether it was a ruse to help him go into hiding.
Muhammad Wanndy's wife Nor Mahmudah Ahmad, 28, who has been in Syria with him since 2014, had posted that she accepted her husband's fate.
Malacca-born Muhammad Wanndy was a high-profile target after he was put on the United States' Specially Designated Global Terrorist list in March.
A fighter for terrorist group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), he was wanted in Malaysia for recruiting local fighters and coordinating attacks there.
Using the assumed name Abu Hamzah Al-Fateh, he had coordinated several attacks, including the hand grenade attack on the Movida nightclub in Puchong, Selangor, last year where eight people were injured.
Meanwhile, the police's Special Branch director Mohd Fuzi Harun said there were at least four Malaysian militants based in Syria who can replace the dead terrorist.
Police are monitoring their activities with the help of a foreign intelligence unit, he was quoted as saying by The Malay Mail Online news site.
"There are four of them that we believe can take up Wanndy's role. They will decide this among themselves and there won't be a power struggle," Datuk Seri Fuzi said.
