New Arrests in Singapore
By Zachary Abuza
The Singapore Government recently announced the detention of five more militant suspects under its Internal Security Act since November 2006, and the placing of two others under the ISA’s lesser Restrictive Orders. Several points bear mentioning. First, one of the five, Abdul Basheer, was an unaffiliated “homegrown” militant. He was not a member of JI, but a law lecturer who was radicalized via the internet and “had made specific plans to pursue 'militant jihad' in Afghanistan.” The number of home grown militant cells in Southeast Asia, inspired by Mustafa Al-Suri's doctrine of nizam la tanzim (system, not organization), is expected to grow as JI is further weakened by arrests such as Saturday’s capture of JI leader Abu Dujana.
The second point that bears noting is the connection between Southeast Asians and the Lashkar e-Toiba. While many analysts continue to see the LET as an ethno-nationalist Kashmiri group, it is clear that the organization has morphed into a more global jihadist organization. Abdul Basheer sought to train with the LET through which he could gain connections to the Taliban in Afghanistan. Another of the five, Mohamed Hussain bin Saynudin, had trained with the LET since late 2001. These are not the first ties between JI and the LET. In October 2004, a large cell, known as Al Ghuraba, comprised of the children and brothers of high-level JI and MILF leaders trained by the LET was arrested in Karachi.
The third point is that the five JI members arrested, Ishak Mohamed Noohu, Mohamed Hussain bin Saynudin, Mohamed Yassin, Ibrahim bin Mohd Noor and Jamil bin Ansani, had all fled Singapore between August and December 2001 and intentionally remained abroad due to the government’s crackdown. The Singapore authorities have not stated whether the five were arrested in Singapore, or rendered from abroad. If arrested in Singapore, one must question why they felt safe enough to return to the security conscious city-state, or whether they were engaged in planning an operation.
The fourth point is that one of the JI members detained, Ishak Mohamed Noohu, had trained with the MILF, further belying their claim that they have no ties to JI.
The final point is that Singapore seems to be enjoying a level of success with its rehabilitation program for JI members. At the same time of the announcement of recent arrests, the Ministry of Home Affairs announced that five members of JI had been released from prison and placed under the ISA’s Suspension Direction. To date, and by my count, Singapore has placed 71 people under one of three categories of its ISA.