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| Southeast Asia |
| Hezbollah was among the recruiters in Singapore... |
| 2002-06-22 |
| According to The Straits Times newspaper, Hezbollah started its activities in Singapore in the 1990s with a few Hizbullah operatives recruiting a group of Muslims through religious classes. Five Singaporeans were selected for special classes, according to the newspaper. Then they met a teacher, known as Ustaz Bandei, who was wanted by Indonesian authorities for the 1985 bombing of the Borobudur temple in Indonesia. Borobadur is an Indonesian — and specifically Javanese — national treasure. It's a temple built under the pre-Muslim Buddhist/Brahmin kings of Java, and it's every bit as important as a work of art as Angkor Vat. Trying to bomb it puts the perps in the same category of the Neanderthals who destroyed the Bamian Buddhas. Through him, they got to know an Iranian who made them pledge to follow his instructions. The five men were also asked to take photographs of the US and Israeli embassies. But they did not do it as they did not want to get involved or were afraid of the consequences. They left the group but the Hizbullah operatives continued to carry out surveillance of the Singapore coastline in 1995. They went to a seafood restaurant in Pasir Gudang in Malaysia and shot videos of the coastline. Ustaz Bandei and three other operatives were still active in 1998. They took a boat from Johor to Batam and sailed to Singapore, stopping by an island close to Singapore, which they had planned to use as a launch pad for their attacks. However, nothing came of their plans in the end. Doesn't sound like they had the infrastructure in place to bring it off, and the Singaporeans are a no-nonsense folk, especially after noticing that they were targeted to become part of the khalifate. This is not the first time that Singapore is mentioned in relation to possible attacks on American targets. During December 2001, the Singaporean authorities declared that they foiled a plot to attack the US Embassy and other US targets there. At least 15 suspects, allegedly belonging to Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya, were arrested late last year in connection to this plot. Doesn't say if this bunch of thugs is connected to the Jemaah thugs, though. It looks to me like it's a different chain of command... For its part, Hizbullah denied the Singaporean reports. The group called the charges, both "absurd" and "without foundation." The Lebanese group said in a statement the allegations were part of an "organized campaign of lies by the US intelligence services with the cooperation of international intelligence services in ... their campaign against Hizbullah, which they accuse of terrorism." Their lips were moving when they said that, so it means they're probably lying. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |