Two senior JI members detained under ISA
Posted: 11 October 2012 1810 hrs
SINGAPORE: Two senior members of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terrorist organisation have been detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for involvement in terrorism-related activities.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said on Thursday that it issued Orders of Detention (ODs) against Abd Rahim Abdul Rahman in March this year and Husaini Ismail in June this year.
MHA said the two had undergone terrorist training in Afghanistan with the Al-Qaeda terrorist organisation in 1999/2000.
They had also been actively involved in observing several potential local and foreign targets in Singapore for a terrorist attack.
Both men fled Singapore in December 2001 soon after the start of the security operation against the JI and took refuge overseas.
While on the run, Husaini was involved in a plot - led by Singapore JI leader Mas Selamat Kastari - to hijack an airplane bound for Singapore and crash it into Changi Airport in January 2002 to retaliate against the disruption of the Singapore JI network.
Abd Rahim was arrested in Malaysia in February this year and was deported to Singapore.
Husaini was arrested in Indonesia in June 2009 and was jailed for immigration offences.
He was deported to Singapore after he had served his jail term, in May 2012.
The ministry also announced that three individuals were released from detention between March and September 2012.
JI member Rijal Yadri Jumari, who was detained under the ISA in March 2008, was released on 20 March this year.
He was a member of the JI's "Al-Ghuraba" cell in Pakistan that comprised young JI members who were being groomed to be operatives and future JI leaders.
Mohd Jauhari Abdullah, a senior JI member detained in September 2002 in the second phase of the Singapore JI arrests, was released on 15 September this year.
Muhammad Fadil Abdul Hamid, a self-radicalised youth who intended to wage armed jihad in Afghanistan and die as a martyr on the battlefield, was detained under the ISA in April 2010 and released on 4 April 2012.
The Restriction Orders (ROs) against 18 persons were allowed to lapse between March and September this year, as they had been cooperative and responsive to rehabilitation efforts and no longer required further supervision under the RO regime.
The 18 include a Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) member and 17 JI members.
-CNA/ir/ac
