Posted on 12/18/2003 10:04:31 AM PST by knighthawk
Two Singaporean members of regional terrorist group Jemaah Islamiah (JI) were arrested in October and are being detained under the Internal Security Act, Singapore Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng said.
Mr Wong said the pair, aged 20 and 21, were part of the same Pakistani-based cell which was broken up in September with the arrests of 19 Indonesians and Malaysians.
He said they were being groomed in Pakistan to be part of the next generation of JI leaders and were arrested after they returned to Singapore.
"We got their names, we know who they are and when they came in here we arrested them," Mr Wong said in an exclusive interview.
The two men were identified as Muhammad Arif bin Aaharudin and Muhammad Amin Bin Mohamed Yunos.
Mr Wong said the men had been studying at the Ulu Tiram madrasah, or Islamic school, in Malaysia from the age of 12.
He said "quite a few" of the more than 30 Singaporean JI detainees already being held under the Internal Security Act had previously studied at the Ulu Tiram madrasah, which is located in neighbouring Johor province of Malaysia.
Singapore's Internal Security Act allows people to be held for two years without trial.
An advisory board then recommends at two-year intervals whether the detainees should continue to be held.
Singapore is regarded as one of the prime targets for JI which was behind the Bali bombings that killed 202 people last year.
Indeed.
The Islamists need to find places where they can bomb unarmed civilians without killing and injuring so many Muslims (Marriott 90 percent Muslim victims, Turkey bombings 90 percent Muslim victims, even Bali 200 Indonesians injured and 15 killed).
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