20-year-old self -radicalised S'porean detained under ISA
By Mustafa Shafawi & Imelda Saad | Posted: 06 July 2010 1614 hrs

SINGAPORE : Authorities have arrested a self-radicalised Singaporean under the Internal Security Act (ISA) and put two others under Restriction Orders.

20-year-old Muhammad Fadil Abdul Hamid was detained on April 4. He is a full-time national serviceman in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) who drew most of his ideas from the Internet.

He is the sixth self-radicalised Singaporean to be detained.

Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said Muhd Fadil avidly surfed the Internet in search of jihadist propaganda and videos when he was studying in a local polytechnic.

Over time, the ministry said, he became deeply radicalised by the lectures of radical ideologues such as Sheikh Feiz Muhammad and Anwar al-Awlaki.

Muhd Fadil then became convinced that it was his religious duty to undertake armed jihad alongside fellow militants.

To undertake militant jihad overseas, Muhd Fadil went online to search for information on bomb-making.

He also produced and posted a video glorifying martyrdom and justifying suicide bombing.

The MHA said that Fadil did not have any plans to undertake jihad-related activities in Singapore but to pursue them in places like Palestine, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Responding to media queries, Singapore's Defence Ministry said Muhd Fadil was an NSF trainee undergoing section leader training in Pasir Laba Camp at the point of his arrest.

It added investigations have shown that this case involves an individual who took the wrong path.

The ministry said at the national level, there are appropriate security processes and systems to monitor and guard against potential security threats.

Separately, two others have been placed on two-year Restriction Orders.

They are 44-year-old Muhammad Anwar Jailani and 27-year-old Muhammad Thahir Shaik Dawood.

The MHA said Muhd Anwar is an unaccredited religious teacher who had distributed CDs containing Anwar al-Awlaki's lectures, calling on Muslims to undertake militant jihad.

Muhd Thahir, who runs a small business, was one of Muhd Anwar's students.

He travelled to Yemen to seek out Anwar al-Awlaki and other radicals with a view to participating in armed jihad.

While in Yemen, he however had doubts and was persuaded to drop his jihad cause. - CNA /ls