The Malaysian government is walking on a tightrope regarding their political sandiwara of Islamic extremism and militancy (such as the Kumpulan Mujahidin Malaysia). Their earlier intention to gain political mileage out of KMM is now faced with possible international isolation because of the existence of such a group in the country.

So far the term 'militant' is used more for international consumption to dissociate our country from terrorist groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan, while 'Mujahideen' is used locally to impose fear that the country could become another Afghanistan under PAS.

Why is the investigation on terrorism and Islam extremism in Malaysia made secret? Each time, government official statements are issued with great dollops of ambiguity.

While the US government is providing evidence to justify the extradition of those involved in the terror attacks in New York and Washington, our government is behaving the opposite by arresting our Mujahideen group under the Internal Security Act. The government should provide hard evidence to justify the arrests.

In my opinion, the Malaysian government is riding on the issue of terrorism and Islamic extremism to put fear against PAS and to justify the ISA arrests.

To achieve some political advantage, the government must link PAS with Islamic extremism and the terrorist network from Afghanistan and Pakistan, but on the international front this would be disastrous because Malaysia would then be part of those countries which harbour terrorists.