Muslim cult planned holy war on Internet

Muslim cult planned holy war on Internet
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

KUALA LUMPUR, JULY 24: Members of the radical Muslim cult who looted a Malaysian military armoury planned to use the Internet to declare jehad (holy war) against the government, reports said on Monday. ``They were aware that all this while, many people had talked about dying as martyrs, the struggle to fight the government and jehad, so they thought these groups would help if chaos was triggered,'' Norian Mai, inspector-general of police, was quoted as saying by The Star newspaper.

Immediately after members of the Al-Ma'unah cult staged the arms heist on July 2, their leader Mohamed Amin Razali directed some members to go to Kuala Lumpur and fire at targets to try to provoke chaos. This was carried out with the hope that their appeal for support through their website would receive backing, Norian said in an interview on Sunday. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad last week said members used a grenade launcher to fire at the Carlsberg brewery in Shah Alam, west of Kuala Lumpur and at a Hindu temple. He said no serious damage was caused because they were not skilled in handling the weapon.

Norian also said the cult planned to capitalise on chaos by declaring over the Internet that a war for martyrdom had begun.