KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 30 — Three top Malaysian leaders are on the terror group Islamic State's  (IS) hit list, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said.

The defence minister made the revelation in an interview with The Star ahead of next month’s Umno General Assembly, but did not disclose the identities of said leaders.

While the identities of the leaders were not made known, The Star reported that the trio could possibly be Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Hishammuddin himself.

“They are trying to scare us and hijack the true face of Islam.

“I am relieved and proud the world leaders who were here for the summit came and went without incident. I congratulated the military and the police the very next day,” he was quoted as saying, referring to the recent Asean summit which was held in KL.

Hishammuddin recently said he was on the IS list after attending a ministerial summit in March.

“It is not like the draw of al-Qaeda or Jemaah Islamiyah. They are different from other terrorist groups, they have the money, arms and sophisticated communications especially in the social media.

“If we are not careful, what Paris and Europe are facing could happen in our country. My concern is that any fault line, whether racial, religious or political leaves a vacuum for groups like IS to exploit. No country has the answer yet how to deal with it – not America, China or the Arabs,” the Umno minister said.

On November 16, Hishammuddin defended his decision to reveal the IS threat in Malaysia despite knowing about it in March, saying it was necessary in the aftermath of the terror attacks in Paris, France.

At a press conference in the Dewan Rakyat lobby, Hishammuddin said that he “deliberately” chose to reveal that Malaysian leaders were being targeted by IS as he wanted to create a sense of urgency back home and to ensure that such attacks did not happen here.

It was reported that over 100 people were killed and more than 200 injured during attacks by terrorists on restaurants, a concert hall and a sports stadium in Paris.  

IS had later claimed responsibility for the massacre.