Malaysia has emerged as an important player in the global war against terrorism.

American and Malaysian authorities discovered that a meeting to discuss 911 plans took place in Kuala Lumpur two years ago.

The meeting was attended by the two men who crashed the plane into the Pentagon.

It took place in the condominium of Malaysian, Yazid Sufaat.

Malaysian investigators arrested US educated microbiologist Yazid, in December last year.

Yazid not only appears to have links to Al Qaeda but is also reportedly a member of the regional terror network Jemaah Islamiyah or JI.

JI has established its presence in Malaysia as well as other Southeast Asian countries and is said to be funded by the Al Qaeda network.

Yet another threat to regional security is militant Malaysian group Kumpulan Militant Malaysia or KMM.

The KMM aims to establish a pan-Islamic state comprising Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

In this first episode of the series on the men at the battlefront in the war against terrorism in Southeast Asia, Malaysian Defence Minister Najib Tun Razak speaks.

Minister Mohd Najib, welcome to In Conversation. It has been one year since September 11 now and in a few days that would be observed by various Americans and people around the world. And it has also been one year since South Asia has woken up to the problem of terrorism right in its backyard. The Jemaah Islamiyah is one particular cause of concern here. What have you done, what has Malaysia done to counter the threat?

In fact we have taken very stern measures even before September 11. Confronting militant groups, extremist groups nothing new to Malaysia because we had the Mali incident way back in the 80s. I believe it was 1983 or around that period.

Then we had the Al Maunah incident that was in the year, one year before September 11. And in both cases we were very firm and we didn't compromise. And we took whatever was necessary to deal with the threat from a very small group, mind you, but one shouldn't take them lightly. One should take, send a very clear message that we would not tolerate any form of extremism terrorism.

What steps have you taken that suggest that you're sending out that clear message now?

We have arrested people.

That was year ago that was November of last year?

Yes, November but we dealt with the Al Maunah because we discovered where they were. We rounded them. We forced them to give up. We took them to court and a number of them have been sentenced to death.

What about the Jemaah Islamiyah?

Jemaah Islamiyah and the KMM - 62 of them have been arrested. And we are hunting for more. We think some of them may have escaped to other countries.

When you say other countries, you mean other countries in South East Asia?

Possibly.

Are you indicating Indonesia here?

Possibly they could be in the region. But we have no confirmation yet.

What have you been able to learn from them? From the Jemaah Islamiyah people that you have arrested before?

Well, they are a close-knit outfit. They're misled by the wrong interpretation of Islam, principally the concept of Jihad and that the government is not an Islamic government, it is a secular government. And that has imbued them with a sense of commitment almost to the point of driving them to do anything including taking up arms to topple the government.

So it's both a security problem and we're confident of handling it because we have the means of handling security problems especially internal security problems.

But more difficult, more challenging is the ideological battle if you like. The religious battle.

You mean the Islamic extremism authority?

Exactly, to convince people that what we have today is the right model for Islam..

Well, that begs the question that so many years of development of Malaysia and in the nearby states, how is it that such a strain of interpretation is Islam has gained ground here?

Well, ironically development doesn't solve the problem. You can have development but at the same time you can have people who misconstrue Islam. How do you explain a graduate from an American university joining the KMM or the Jemaah Islamiyah? .

Well how do you explain that?

Exactly. This is the question because I'm pointing out an example that you know, mere development, physical development is not enough. Simply giving them education is not enough. Because some of the terrorists who take part, who took part in the September 11 were highly qualified people.

You know some of them have middle-class background. They don't fit into this stereotype image of terrorists. They're supposed to be the down-trodden people, anti-establishment, people who're impoverished.

But on the contrary people with middle-class background you know, are taking up the wrong cause but they believe that it is their cause to topple the government.

So what is more important to us now is to reach out and to convince the masses, the vast majority that what they have today is already an Islamic nation. And that Islam is a peaceful religion and Islam is a tolerant religion and that is the kind of model we should subscribe to and support.

But isn't the problem being pointed out in terms of the Islamic schools that flourish in this part of the world - the madrasahs so to speak, wherein you have a character like Abu Ba'syir in Indonesia who has been set free although Malaysia and Singapore have demanded that he be arrested, that he be tried but Indonesia has questioned and set him off. And that has shocked the two of you, hasn't it?

Well, we believe that, you know we need, we need to take very stern measures and one the principle supply line if you like in terms of providing future terrorists and militants they come from the religious schools and madrasahs. And we have a share of religious schools in this country as well. So we're examining how we can look at it from the supply point of view as well..

By that you're saying education is not enough. On the other hand Islamic schools don't seem to be enough. What is the solution?

.The solution is to have a balanced education.
I mean you can have Islamic education but you make sure that it is the right interpretation of Islam. You know we have very fine Islamic institutions here in this country.

For example, we have established an Institution of the Understanding of Islam, IKIM. I mean they preach the goodness of Islam. They preach the rightness of Islam.

And it is that kind of thinking that we would like to be more pervasive particularly what goes on in the madrasahs and the religious schools in the villages. Because we believe that there are people who would use religion as a tool to further their political aims.

So it is not about Islam but at the end of the day, it is about political power.

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