SINGAPORE: The authorities here detained two Singaporeans under the Internal Security Act (ISA) last month for their involvement in terrorism-related activities, and one of them is said to be a close associate of Syria-based ISIS militant Malaysian Wan Mohd Aquil Wan Zainal Abidin @ Akel Zainal.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) named Akel’s ally as Mohamed Kazali Salleh, 48, a businessman from Malaysia, and the other detainee as Hazim Syahmi Mahfoot, a 28-year-old freelance car exporter based in Singapore.
In a post on its website, MHA said Akel is believed to be the most senior Malaysian ISIS fighter in Syria and was identified by the Malaysian authorities to be responsible for two recent ISIS-linked attack plots in Malaysia.
It said Kazali first met Akel in 2009 and became strongly influenced by Akel’s radical views and conspiracy theories.
It also said that the Internal Security Department (ISD) of Singapore and the Malaysian Special Branch (MSB) cooperated closely on investigations into Kazali’s terrorism-related activities and his links with Akel.
Kazali was arrested in Malaysia by MSB officers in December 2018, and deported to Singapore and handed over to ISD on Jan 7, 2019. He was arrested and subsequently issued with an Order of Detention (OD) under the ISA, MHA said.
It said he was convinced by Akel’s belief that Muslims are duty-bound to travel to Syria to fight against those who oppress Muslims.
When Akel decided to go to Syria to fight in late 2013, Kazali had provided him with financial assistance for his trip, it said.
His material assistance to Akel continued when Akel was in Syria, and in turn, Akel had kept him updated on his exploits on the battlefield, it added.
Kazali believed that the help he gave to Akel would guarantee him a place in paradise should Akel achieve martyrdom in Syria, said the ministry.
MHA said that as Kazali became increasingly radicalised over time, he saw ISIS fighters as “righteous” individuals defending Muslims in Syria and around the world.
At Akel’s urging, he took a bai’ah (pledge of allegiance) to ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, which was conveyed to Akel via social media.
He also agreed to join Akel in Syria when invited by the latter to do so on several occasions; he did not, however, act on it as he was not ready to leave his life in Malaysia behind, according to MHA.
Instead, he took to sharing news of Akel’s terrorism-related activities in Syria on social media to inspire others to travel to Syria.
He was prepared to facilitate the travel of any individual who wanted to undertake armed violence in Syria through Akel, it said.
In December 2018, MHA said, Kazali received instructions from Akel to carry out an attack against a Freemasons centre in Johor Baru, Malaysia, but did not follow through as he was afraid of being caught by the authorities.
MHA said the other detainee, Hazim, had met Kazali in May 2018 in Singapore.
Hazim was in turn arrested in Singapore and subsequently issued with an OD last month, it added. — Bernama
