Malaysian army, cops to discuss military role in border

The Armed Forces chief will be meeting with the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) to discuss how the military can play a bigger role in border security, said Malaysia Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein (pic).

"The Cabinet decided today that the Armed Forces chief and the IGP will discuss what role the military can play and participate," said the minister at his office here after chairing a post-Cabinet meeting.

He said the Cabinet decided in its meeting Wednesday to explore how this could be achieved.

This followed a newspaper report quoting a purported Special Branch report saying that 80 percent of border security personnel were on the take from human trafficking syndicates.

Hishammuddin also said he had spoken with his Thai counterpart to discuss measures to tighten the border.

On another matter, Hishammuddin reiterated his denial that he would resign as Defence Minister.

Blaming such talk on people who were trying to create a rift in Umno, the party vice-president said that his recent tweets on 1MDB had been "spun" to create the perception that he would resign his Cabinet position.

"If you believe all the rumours being spread in the past few days then many ministers would have resigned by now, and (Deputy Prime Minister) Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin should have resigned last night," he said.

Hishammuddin said he fully supported Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib's handling of the 1MDB issue, as it was based on what he felt should be three key priorities, namely the availability of a rationalisation plan for 1MDB, accountability, and transparency in the matters relating to the fund.