The newsletter aims to spread IS ideology among Muslims in Malaysia and Indonesia, and is believed to be managed from the Philippines.

PETALING JAYA: The Islamic State is now uploading its newsletter in Bahasa Indonesia in a bid to spread its ideology to Muslims in Indonesia and Malaysia.

Checks by FMT found the PDF newsletter, titled “Al-Fatihin” (Conqueror), could be downloaded easily via a number of file-sharing sites.

The 20-page first edition of the newsletter, published for Ramadan, contains various hadiths on the principles and benefits of fasting.

It included an infographic propaganda on the successes of the militant group in the past two months.

Meanwhile, Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed told FMT that the ministry was working with the Communications and Multimedia Ministry to obtain information on the network of people who uploaded the newsletter.

However, he said, merely uploading a newsletter did not make a person a terrorist, but said the authorities wanted to investigate and identify who would be interested in using the information to become a terrorist.

“If there is a need to arrest such people, we will arrest them.”

FMT also spoke to Bukit Aman Special Branch Director Mohamad Fuzi Harun, who said police were constantly monitoring websites which spread militant propaganda.

Fuzi said investigations on the newsletter had led to a Philippines-based Facebook page, managed by Indonesians and Malaysians there, but this could not yet be verified as investigations were ongoing.

He stressed that the police would go all out against IS and find all the people involved in the group, including those who spread the IS propaganda.

“Police will request the Home Ministry and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission to block these websites. We have many channels to deal with IS.”

It had previously been reported that about 200 Malaysians were fighting for IS in the Middle East.

Last November, Washington-based Pew Research found one in 10 respondents in Malaysia were IS sympathisers.

Resource : Free Malaysia Today Online