SINGAPORE: Singapore is holding three suspected Islamist militants under tough security laws, including one who underwent terrorist training with al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, the government said yesterday.
Two of those held belong to the Southeast Asia-based Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terror network and the third is a member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), an armed group waging an insurgency in the southern Philippines.
The three were detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA), which allows detention of suspects without trial.
A statement by the Ministry of Home Affairs said the suspects were arrested outside Singapore and were placed under ISA detention after they were deported to the city-state — indicating the three are Singaporeans. One of those being held is Samad Subari, a JI member who had “undergone terrorist training with al-Qaeda in Afghanistan in 2001”, the statement said.
He had fled to Indonesia following a crackdown against the JI in Singapore and was arrested by Indonesian police in Sumatra in June 2009.
The second suspect, Jumari Kamdi, is also a JI member who received military training organised by the terror group.
He was arrested in an unidentified neighbouring country late last year and deported to Singapore, the home ministry said.
The third suspect, Abdul Majid Kunji Mohammad, was trained in making improvised explosive devices at a MILF base on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao. — AFP