Malaysia foiled terror plots before King’s visit

KUALA LUMPUR —  Malaysian police announced on Tuesday that four Yemeni terrorists were arrested on Feb. 26 for their attempts to carry out terror attacks coinciding with the visit of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman. Two Indonesian and one Malaysian nationals were also detained in a second anti-terrorist operation, Malaysian newspapers reported on Tuesday. In a third operation, a national from an East Asian country was also arrested. Preliminary investigations showed that they belonged to the Daesh (the so-called IS) group and Houthi militias. The Malaysian media reported quoting police sources that the Yemeni suspects ranged between 26 and 33 years of age and they were residing in the country for the past three to six years. It was found that they had relations with terror groups based in Yemen. “Preliminary investigations showed that they had links with Houthis and that they had a destructive plan to carry out during the visit of King Salman to Malaysia,” the sources said. They were also involved in producing false travel documents as well as in distributing drugs. A Malaysian police officer said that an Indonesian national and a Malaysian citizen, who were detained on Feb. 21, have links with Daesh. The Indonesian national was deported from Turkey last June after he was arrested while trying to enter Syria to join Daesh. The East Asian national, who stayed in Malaysian by using a bogus university student visa, was involved in terror activities.