UK interested in Malaysia's model for addressing religious extremists - Zahid

Malaysia will share its experience with the United Kingdom (UK) in terms of its deradicalisation programme against militant and Islamic extremist groups, says Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

He said the UK had showed keen interest in the deradicalisation model used by Malaysia, which had a 95 per cent success rate of rehabilitating the parties concerned.

"We have implemented this programme since the emergency period in 1948, and have refined it from time to time when Malaysia was faced with various threats of militant groups and religious extremists," he told Malaysian journalists on the second day of his visit to the UK.

Ahmad Zahid, who is on a four-day visit to the UK, held a closed meeting with the country's security agency on Monday.

The deputy prime minister said he would invite UK Home Secretary Theresa May to attend the international conference on deradicalisation scheduled to be held in Malaysia on Jan 25 and 26 next year.

Ahmad Zahid said the UK would also send its officers to Malaysia soon, to study the Malaysian model of the deradicalisation programme.

He said Malaysia and UK had also agreed to strengthen cooperation for the repatriation of their citizens involved in terrorism, including as members of Daesh group (formerly known as the IS militant group) in Syria and Iraq.

Ahmad Zahid's visit to UK, his first as the deputy prime minister, was aimed at strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries, particularly in the field of security and immigration.

"With this visit, I also hope to learn the experiences and UK's best practices relating to the screening of foreign visitors entering the country more effectively, like the ones implemented by the National Border Tracking Centre in Manchester.

"This is closely linked with the country's plans to enhance the services of the Immigration Department through the National Immigration Security System," he added.