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Malaysia deports 10 foreign terrorist suspects
[Dawn] Malaysia has arrested and deported 10 foreigners suspected of trying to recruit university students to revive a regional terrorist network, police said Tuesday.More detail on yesterday's story... The foreigners were arrested over the past six months at different locations, national police chief Musa Hassan said. They allegedly tried to recruit students to work abroad for the Al-Qaeda-linked Southeast Asian group Jemaah Islamiyah. I don't know if JI is trying to come back or if it's been reborn as al-Q in Aceh. Jemaah Islamiyah is blamed for several deadly attacks in the region, including the 2002 bombings on the Indonesian island of Bali that killed 202 people. "All have been deported," Musa told The Associated Press, declining to give further details. The Star daily quoted him as saying police were monitoring 20 to 30 students, and the foreigners began talking to them about joining the group. "This trend is very worrying as it shows that these militants have changed their tactics and strategies in recruiting members, especially for their activities in other countries," Musa was quoted as saying. "Police will monitor students attending any talks that can cause upheaval and threaten national security." Musa said students were "usually targeted as they are young and believe in things more easily," the New Straits Times reported. Separately, the government arrested nine other foreigners and one Malaysian in January under a law that allows detention without trial. Two of the foreigners - who were from Jordan, Nigeria, Syria, Yemen and elsewhere - were deported in March, but there was no information on the others' status. Activists say police arrested the men with some 40 others at a home near Kuala Lumpur while attending a weekly Islamic class with a Syrian university lecturer. The others were later freed. Over the past decade, Malaysian authorities have detained more than 100 militant suspects, most alleged to be members of Jemaah Islamiyah. Authorities have freed many, saying they have been rehabilitated. None was ever charged. Since the 2002 Bali attack, a regional security crackdown has seen hundreds of militants killed or captured and convicted. Jemaah Islamiyah was accused of carrying out the deadly July 2009 bombings at two luxury hotels in Jakarta, Indonesia, and a plot to assassinate that country's president. The bombings ended a four-year lull in terrorist attacks in Indonesia. Posted by: Fred 2010-06-16 |
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