Malaysia's DPM assures that Kuala Lumpur is safe after arrests over terror plot

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Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. PHOTO: THE STAR/ ASIA NEW NETWORK

KUALA LUMPUR (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has given an assurance that Jalan Alor in Bukit Bintang and other areas in the capital are safe.

This follows a terror alert issued by the United States embassy and several others about a possible terror attack in Jalan Alor last Thursday (Sept 24).

"I want to confirm that the area (Jalan Alor) and a few other areas previously categorised as dange­rous are being monitored closely by the police. There is no threat," he told a press conference in the Malaysian capital during the 10th Asean Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime on Tuesday (Sept 29).

"We want to assure the people that the police are always ready to make sure that there is no act of terrorism and to ensure there is no threat at all in Malaysia."

A Syrian man was among three suspected terrorists detained in the city after a terror alert issued by the US embassy and several others about a possible terror attack in Jalan Alor.

According to sources, the Syrian, a Malaysian and an Indonesian were picked up after officers from Bukit Aman's Special Branch Counter Terrorism Division raided a few places in Jalan Hang Tuah in Kuala Lumpur last Thursday.

The suspects, aged between 30 and 51, were arrested at an apartment near Jalan Alor after the police received information from their foreign counterparts.

The terror plot is purportedly linked to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terror network, reported The Malaysian Insider.

The Indonesian national was found to have made frequent trips to Yemen and was detected entering Malaysia a few days ago.

The suspects have been detained under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012.

The United States Embassy, which had issued a travel advisory last Thursday - Hari Raya Haji - on the possibility of a terror attack in Jalan Alor near Bukit Bintang and its surrounding areas, said its advisory was based on "credible threat information regarding a potential terrorist act".

The Australian High Commission in Malaysia cited the US embassy in its own warning to its citizens on its website last Thursday.

The terror plot is believed to be meant as retaliation for the arrests of 10 suspected militants from the ISIS network last month.

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