Saudi Arabia willing to cooperate on rehabilitating IS followers - Najib

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the Saudi Arabian government is willing to cooperate with Malaysia on rehabilitating those influenced by IS ideology.

"They have got a and (Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad) Zahid (Hamidi) will send a team to study the methodology they use to persuade them to come back from the wrong path and become responsible citizens.

"They have a specific which we can learn from and the government has agreed to send a team to study the methods used," Najib told Malaysian journalists Sunday after an audience with King Salman Abdulaziz al-Saud at the As-Salam Palace here.

He said the Home Ministry would follow-up and identify measures taken by the country to rehabilitate Saudi citizens influenced by IS.

On his visit at the invitation of the King of Saudi Arabia, the prime minister described the visit as extremely successful in strengthening bilateral ties which have long been established.

"I consider my meeting with to be very successful and very productive, which reflects the fact that current relations are very good, and His Highness has expressed his desire for this relationship to be enhanced in various fields and dimensions," he said.

He also met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif al-Saud after his audience with King Salman.

Najib said this was his first official visit to Saudi Arabia after was crowned king earlier this year.

The prime minister said that in the context of the region and its people, Malaysia wanted to see a Saudi was not only stable and strong, but one which showed effective leadership in the region.

As such, Najib said Malaysia was willing to play a role in supporting the establishment of security and Saudi Arabia's stand to resolve the issues in Yemen.

Najib said on the Yemen issue, Malaysia was grateful to the Saudi Arabian government for their assistance in carrying out rescue operations to save Malaysian students in the strife-torn country.

The Prime Minister said they also discussed other on Rohingya refugees fleeing to Malaysian and Indonesian waters.

Najib said as chairman of ASEAN, Malaysia would set up a humanitarian fund to assist Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi migrants.

"I brought up this to and he expressed interest to contribute to the fund.

On the target for the fund, Najib said it would be left to the Saudi Arabian government to consider the amount.

" responded positively and directed his finance minister to check on the amount. We will know after this," he said.

Najib said as a follow-up measure, the Foreign Ministry would set up the fund and several countries such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are also to contribute to it.