The National Security Council (NSC) today denied linking any local religious scholar to Wahabism or terrorism at a closed-door briefing session it held recently.

In a statement sent to Umno Online , NSC secretary Mohamed Thajudeen Abdul Wahab said any labellings made during the session were the private opinions of the presenters and do not reflect the opinion of the council.

"We did not label anyone. This is a normal briefing attended by 30 people, but it was more of an academic discussion with the purpose to understand issues more in depth," Thajudeen told the party's online organ.

ti religio-corruption workshop 231105 muhammad 'uthman el-muhammady Malaysiakini on Monday was reliably told that former Perlis mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin and several other religious figures were labelled "a potential terrorist threat" for their alleged links to Wahabism.

It was also learnt that the governments of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain had, at the briefing, been accused by speakers of funding the movement.

Among those said to have addressed the council were southern Thailand religious leader Ismail Lutfi and a popular local Islamic preacher Muhammad Uthman El-Muhammady ( left ).

Perlis mufti Juanda Jaya has since dismissed the claims and demanded an explanation from the NSC.

It was understood that Juanda and representatives of the Perlis Fatwa Council were also excluded from the briefing and had been named as among those being "possible terrorists".