Saturday, June 9, 2007

S'pore Detains "Self-Radicalised" S'porean, Four JI Members Under ISA

SINGAPORE, June 8 - Singapore's Internal Security Department (ISD) has arrested a 28-year-old man whom it described as a "self-radicalised' Singaporean who had made specific plans to pursue "militant jihad" in Afghanistan.

The Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement tonight that Abdul Basheer Abdul Kader, an ex-lecturer, was arrested in February this year and subsequently detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA).

The ISD had also arrested and placed under ISA four Jemaah Islamiyah members between November last year and February this year, including one whom the ministry said had "undergone JI training in Malaysia".

The ministry said Abdul Basheer studied and practised law after graduation and later became a lecturer in an educational institution.

"From late 2004, he began developing the mindset that he had to wage 'militant jihad' in a land where Muslims were under attack. His views were shaped by the radical discourse that he avidly looked up on the Internet," the ministry said.

In October 2006, Abdul Basheer left Singapore for a Middle-Eastern country. "He planned to live there for two years, learning Arabic so that he could communicate with Mujahidin fighters," the ministry said.

He was arrested and repatriated to Singapore "before he could embark on his violent agenda".

Meanwhile, the four JI members detained under the ISA are Ishak Mohamed Noohu, Mohamed Hussain Saynudin, Mohamed Yassin Mohamed Nooh and Ibrahim Mohd Noor.

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