Police prevent ‘blockade’ outside US embassy
Published on: Wednesday, December 27, 2023
By:
FMT, Shahrul Shahabudin
Kuala Lumpur police chief Allaudeen Abdul Majid stressed that the police are responsible for ensuring public order and the safety of foreign representatives in Malaysia.
PETALING JAYA: Police have prevented a planned six-day “blockade” outside the US embassy from going ahead.
More than 100 people started to marched from the Tabung Haji Tower in Jalan Tun Razak to the US embassy further along the road, where they planned to camp outside the building to express their disproval of the country’s veto of the United Nations’ efforts to push for a ceasefire in Gaza.
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However, they were stopped by the police approximately 200m from the embassy.
At a press conference near the embassy, Kuala Lumpur police chief Allaudeen Abdul Majid stressed that the police are responsible for ensuring public order and the safety of foreign representatives in Malaysia.
“We will not allow any incidents to jeopardise public order, especially the safety of the high commissions and foreign embassies in this area. That is our stance,” he said.
He also advised the event’s participants not to set up tents near the US embassy as planned.
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“Action will be taken against anyone who violates these instructions,” he warned.
“We have already mobilised our officers to ensure the safety of this area, and we ask that everyone cooperate.”
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He said that while the police are sympathetic towards the plight of the Palestinians, they are also duty-bound to ensure public safety and protect the premises, property and people of foreign missions in the country.
“This is our responsibility, because we must remember … they are guests in our country,” he said.
Organised by Sekretariat Solidariti Palestin (SSP), the event is supported by 35 NGOs, 15 student movements and political parties such as PKR, PAS, Amanah, Muda and PSM.
Muda secretary-general Amir Hadi said those attending the event would continue with their plan to set up tents “as near as possible to the (US) embassy”.
He said the group planned to erect up to 10 tents and was prepared to face any potential action by the police.
“We will try our best to stay here until the end, which is on Dec 31,” he said.
“We hope the government will let us stay here until the end of the programme… If they want to take action, that’s up to them, but we will stay here,” he added.
AFP reported that more than 20,600 people have been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, in the war between Israel and Hamas which erupted after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct 7.
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