S/CT PDAS FEIERSTEIN MEETS SENIOR MALAYSIAN

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 KUALA LUMPUR 000504

SIPDIS

S/CT FOR FEIERTSTEIN, ALLEGRA
EAP/MTS, MLS, RSP
USCG FOR ATTAMAN, CARUOLO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/11/2028
TAGS: PTER PREL PGOV MY
SUBJECT: S/CT PDAS FEIERSTEIN MEETS SENIOR MALAYSIAN
OFFICIALS

Classified By: Political Section Chief Mark D. Clark, reasons 1.4 (a, b
, c).


1. (C) Summary: S/CT PDAS Jerry Feierstein visited Kuala
Lumpur June 6-7 and met with the head of the Malaysia's
National Security Council, Muhammad Hatta, and the Deputy
Secretary General of the Home Ministry, Ahmad Fuad.
Discussion of counterterrorism covered de-radicalization
efforts, improving bilateral and multilateral information
exchange, cyber security, and capacity building linked to
land and maritime border control. NSC Secretary Hatta
betrayed his preoccupation with the fluid domestic political
situation. End Summary.

HOME AFFAIRS
--------------


2. (C) Home Ministry Deputy Secretary General Ahmad Fuad
provided an overview of Malaysian counterterrorism efforts
for PDAS Feierstein. He characterized Malaysian CT tools as
ranging from multilateral prevention, to pre-emptive law
enforcement, to rehabilitation and counter-radicalization.
Fuad signaled his encouragement of greater information
exchange as well as stepped up capacity- and
confidence-building. Fuad noted that the upcoming Kuala
Lumpur meeting of the ASEAN Senior Officials' Meeting on
Transnational Crime would take up a draft CT code linked to
the 2002 Agreement on Information Exchange and the ASEAN
Convention on Counterterrorism. When asked whether Malaysia
had initiated any prosecutions under its new CT laws, Fuad
said the government instead focused on preventative measures
and use of the Internal Security Act to detain suspected
terrorists without recourse to trial. Fuad also pointed to
the prosecution of two money laundering cases (neither linked
to terrorist finance).

GREATEST CHALLENGE: POST-ELECTION POLITICS
--------------


3. (S/REL) At a meeting later in the day with NSC Secretary
Muhammad Hatta, PDAS Feierstein asked Hatta for a threat
assessment. With seeming candor, Hatta expressed the
government's concern that opposition gains as a result of the
March 8 elections, including opposition control of five
states, had "polarized" the country and could ignite racial
tensions, creating a "risk to national unity." "We are
looking carefully at the political opposition," he said,
while also acknowledging possible instability due to
"infighting" within the ruling UMNO party of Prime Minister
Abdullah. (Comment: The government has sought to use the
specter of an ethnic Malay backlash as a means of pressuring
the opposition coalition, which includes two multi-racial
parties. Government-controlled media periodically has
attempted to fan Malay discontent since the March 8 polls.
End Comment.)

"INFILTRATION" FROM MINDANAO AND INDONESIA
--------------


4. (S/REL) Threats from terrorism and extremism were
secondary, Hatta implied. Indeed, Hatta discounted the
terrorist threat posed by Jemaah Islamiyah (JI). "JI cells
are small, otherwise they would be detected," he said. On
the terrorism front, the main concern was "infiltration" from
Mindanao and Indonesia, as Malaysia's porous borders allowed
JI militants to transit with relative ease. Hatta assessed
that the Islamist opposition party PAS would not tend toward
extremism. He also noted that the government actively
monitors Islamic schools for signs of militant ideology.


5. (S/REL) When asked by PDAS Feierstein how the USG could
assist, Hatta indicated the importance of capacity building
to strengthen land and maritime border control. In this
connection, he encouraged strengthening the new relationship
being forged between the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement
Agency and the U.S. Coast Guard. He also expressed interest
in cyber security training for the NSC.

KUALA LUMP 00000504 002 OF 002




6. (U) PDAS Feierstein did not clear this message.

KEITH