You have commented 375 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Submit your comments on this article
Southeast Asia
Singapore Jugs "Larval" Stage Terrorists
2003-12-19
Singapore has arrested two Muslims trained in Pakistan and Afghanistan to eventually lead the al-Qaeda-linked militant group Jemaah Islamiyah, the government said on Thursday. It said the two Singaporeans were part of a group called al-Ghuraba, a Pakistan-based cell of the Jemaah Islamiyah, which is believed by investigators to be the Southeast Asian wing of Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda. Singapore said the two men were groomed by the brother of Hambali, a militant accused of masterminding bombings in Southeast Asia, in handling weapons and explosives and carrying out espionage and urban warfare. "The cell was set up in 1999 by Indonesian JI operations commander, Hambali, for the purpose of developing young JI members to become trained operatives and future leaders," the Singapore government said. Singapore, which operates Southeast Asia’s most advanced truncheoning security apparatus, has already detained 33 suspected Muslim militants after foiling a Jemaah Islamiyah plot to blow up Western targets in the city state in 2001.

The two men, Muhammad Arif Bin Naharudin, 20, and Muhammad Amin Bin Mohamed Yunos, 20, are being held under the Internal Security Act, which allows for you don’t want to know detention without trial, after their arrest on October 23 and 25 in Singapore. "Both Arif and Amin were among several students who were talent-spotted by the JI leadership to be groomed to become the next generation of key operatives and leaders in the JI organization," the Singapore government said. "There were also indications that Hambali was prepared to assign some of them to the al-Qaeda for operations," it said.
’Yah think?
Police picked the men up while they were on a trip home, a government official said. Officials of Pakistan’s interior ministry, however, denied knowledge of al-Ghuraba, whose name the Singapore government said means "scum of the earth" "foreigners". "During our investigation al-Ghuraba never came up, this is very sure," said Abdul Malik, deputy director of Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency which recently arrested and deported six Indonesian Islamic students accused of ties to militants.
I sure hope Abdul made them swim home, but I doubt it.
"We don’t know anything or any (group) code-named al-Ghuraba," he told Reuters.
Perhaps we should describe it as a "secret group," then. Do us a favor, and keep an eye out for it from now on?
Hambali, described by U.S. President George W. Bush as "one of the world’s most lethal terrorists", was arrested by Thai and U.S. agents in Thailand in August. His brother, Gun Gun Rusman Gunawan, was among six Indonesian students detained in Pakistan in September for suspected terror links and returned to Indonesia this week.
I’m sure old Gunny’ll now take up a sedate life as a quiet, productive vegetable framer.
Shedding light on the schooling of Asian Islamic radicals, Singapore said al-Ghuraba was originally led by Abdul Rahim, son of Indonesia’s radical Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir. Bashir has been accused of being Jemaah Islamiyah spiritual leader and was convicted of treason in September. Hambali’s brother later took control of al-Ghuraba, the Singapore statement said. Arif and Amin originally studied in Johor, Malaysia, before they were handpicked to join al-Ghuraba, it said. Underscoring the genetic cesspool family links that often bind Asian Islamic militants, Arif’s father fought with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the biggest Muslim rebel group in the Philippines. Amin is the son of a Malaysian Jemaah Islamiyah member, it said. Arif spent university holidays studying with the Kashmiri militant group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, where he learned how to "handle weapons, conduct operational surveillance and make improvised explosives," the Singapore statement said.
Jeez, what ever happened to drinking beer and chasing girls over spring break?
Amin was sent to Afghanistan where he completed five training courses at al-Qaeda’s "Camp Farouq". The statement said, "His last course on urban warfare was abruptly terminated when the U.S.-led coalition forces attacked Afghanistan."
What a shame - I guess he just missed an oportunity for a little post-grad education at "Guantanamo U"
Posted by:Lone Ranger

#4  comments); ?>werwer
Posted by: Carl in N.H.   2003-12-19 12:05:52 PM  

#3  comments); ?>werwer
Posted by: cingold   2003-12-19 10:14:58 AM  

#2  comments); ?>werwer
Posted by: son of tolui   2003-12-19 2:52:59 AM  

#1  comments); ?>werwer
Posted by: Dan Darling   2003-12-19 12:55:41 AM  

00:00