The Home Ministry will request police to ensure all investigation and intelligence reports on militant groups like Jemaah Islamiah (JI) remain confidential and not leaked to the public.

Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said since a special team formed to look into the issue of militants was in the process of conducting a closed-door briefing to relevant authorities like vice chancellors and university lecturers, he had requested police chief Musa Hassan to ensure that such information does not leak to the public.

He said if such confidential information leaked, it would lead to all types of unwarranted and baseless accusations and pose a danger to those carrying out their duties, especially the police.

NONE "Just because we want to be transparent, we do not want any undesired incidents to happen. There will also be some who may try to manipulate or exploit the situation which can pose a threat to security.

"For example, there are some who claimed that police had linked Wahabi with terrorists and that is a baseless claim," he told reporters after opening the Kulim Bandar Baru Umno division delegates meeting here today.

On June 14, Musa Hassan had said that since early this year, 10 foreigners were detained on suspicion of having been involved in activities of the JI extremist group to revive its struggle by recruiting youths, including university students.

Hishammuddin said the duty of the police is to prevent terrorism and they do not mix the ideology of religion or politics.

"The issue is terrorism... we do not consider religion, politics, background and colour of skin. We do not only track down JI members who are Muslims but we also keep track of militants who are from other religions," he said.

Meanwhile, Hishammuddin said he had also asked the Home Ministry's secretary-general to look at actions that can be taken against Suara Keadilan, the organ of PKR for carrying baseless

accusations and news articles.

- Bernama