00:00Sir, I understand you had a meeting, you had a meeting this morning with the U.S. Commission on Sanctions.
00:06What is Malaysia's stance? Are these concerns given by the U.S.? What are they and will Malaysia give its cooperation?
00:14Yes, thank you very much.
00:17We had a very good and a very cordial and productive engagement and discussion with Brian Nelson and the rest of the members of the delegations.
00:31Of course, throughout the one-hour discussion, we touched on several issues, several topics, but what I would like to highlight here is,
00:42number one, I managed to convey nicely to the U.S. delegates that when it comes to the issue on sanctions,
00:53our position is that we only recognize a sanction imposed by the U.N. Security Council.
01:05We don't recognize any sanction imposed by individual countries. That's point number one.
01:16Point number two is that they have highlighted very specific examples based on the information that they would like Malaysia to look into it.
01:33I responded by saying that some of the issues that they have highlighted, which involve a certain organization, for example,
01:50which they suspect that they have some connections with Palestine and all that.
01:58I just stated the fact that the organization involved is already subject to ongoing investigations.
02:06We have frozen assets and we have charged them in court according to our law and regulations.
02:13So any action that goes against Malaysian law, based on what we respect, the rule of law,
02:23so any action that goes against Malaysian law, already action has been taken, ongoing.
02:30So those are very specific. Of course, there are many other specific issues.
02:34That was the first time I heard about it.
02:37So what is more important is that the discussion went through very well.
02:45They respected our position and they acknowledged that when it comes to terrorism and financing terrorism,
02:53we have a solid position in terms of regional cooperation.
03:01Within ASEAN, for example, we need to take chairmanship of ASEAN next year.
03:07One of the ten agendas that we are looking forward to discuss throughout 2025,
03:16the topic of illicit funding and money laundering has also been addressed.
03:24So the U.S. delegation has taken note on that.
03:31They know precisely what are the steps taken by Malaysian government
03:37when it comes to the issue of terrorism, extremism and all those.
03:43What is the U.S. response to Malaysia's decision?
03:49They appreciate that when it comes to the rule of law,
03:54we have a solid rule of law.
03:58Not only in terms of name, but we strengthen it.
04:03I also took the opportunity to say that the five-year strategic plan
04:11that was just prepared by the Ministry of Home Affairs
04:14to deal with matters related to extremism and terrorism has also been prepared.
04:21So what is their reaction?
04:25Of course, they took note of that.
04:29And I said that we are ready to meet them openly
04:36and they conveyed what they wanted to convey
04:42which is very important to them.
04:46And we gave them our perspective in terms of political commitment,
04:50law and regulation, enforcement and cooperation.
04:55They took note of all those things
05:00and they wanted this process of engagement not to be one-off,
05:07but to be a continuous process.
05:10And of course, we are open, not only to the U.S.
05:14We are neutral in our feelings
05:17and we will engage with all the relevant parties.
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