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SINGAPORE – A Singaporean man was detained under the Internal Security Act for participating in Yemen’s civil war and working for a foreign power as a paid agent while in the Middle Eastern country, the Department of Homeland Security said ( ISD).
In a statement on Wednesday (December 9), the ISD said that 48-year-old Sheik Heikel Khalid Bafana, who was arrested in March last year, had acted in a manner detrimental to Singapore’s security and interests.
In disclosing the case, the ISD emphasized Singapore’s “stern position against anyone who supports, promotes, engages in or prepares to engage in armed violence.”
Giving an update on previous cases, the ISD said radicalized Bangladeshi Ahmed Faysal received an arrest warrant on November 30.
It added that three Singaporeans who were previously detained under the Internal Security Act have been released and placed on restraining orders (RO). The ROs issued against five others were allowed to expire as they had shown good progress in their rehabilitation.
Heikel had assisted one of the factions in the civil war after migrating to Yemen with his family around 2008, the ISD said.
He volunteered to take up arms and fight alongside this faction, which the ISD did not identify.
While in the war-torn country, he ran a consultancy that advised foreign companies on security risks and business opportunities. Online checks showed that he was the managing director of Bafana Advisory.
The ISD said that Heikel had also acted as an intermediary between this faction and the foreign power, which was also not named. He had tried to secure military equipment, supplies, and funds for military training.
He subsequently collected intelligence on Yemen for this foreign power from around 2012 to 2018, for which he was paid “substantial amounts,” the ISD said. His dealings with foreign power were clandestine in nature.
The ISD said it had not disclosed Heikel’s case before, as investigations into his activities in Yemen were complex and doing so would have jeopardized ongoing investigations.
On those who support or engage in armed violence or make preparations to do so, ISD said: “Regardless of how they ideologically rationalize that violence, or where the violence occurs, that person has demonstrated a dangerous tendency to support the use of violence.”
Heikel compounded this by serving the interests of a foreign power for financial gain, he added, noting that he had stayed in Yemen after 2011 when the security situation deteriorated, even as other Singaporeans were evacuated.
He was arrested under the ISA after he and his family returned to Singapore on February 5 of last year. His family members have not been involved in his activities in Yemen, the ISD added.
Arrest of Ahmed Faysal
Radicalized Bangladeshi Ahmed Faysal, 26, whose arrest was announced last month, received an arrest warrant under the ISA on November 30 to facilitate ongoing investigations into his terrorism-related activities.
Faysal was one of 37 people investigated by the ISD and the police, after the Home Team raised its security posture in early September following a series of terrorist attacks in France following the reissue of the Prophet Muhammad cartoons by the magazine satirical Charlie Hebdo.
Preliminary investigations had determined that Faysal intended to carry out acts of armed violence abroad in support of his religion, although there was no indication that he intended to carry out violent acts in Singapore.
He had been working as a construction worker in Singapore since the beginning of 2017, and became radical in 2018 after absorbing online propaganda about the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Released from detention
Three Singaporeans detained under the ISA for engaging in terrorism-related activities have been released and placed on restraining orders, the ISD said.
They had shown good progress in their rehabilitation and it was assessed that they no longer posed a security threat requiring pre-trial detention.
The three Singaporeans are:
– Muhammad Fadil Abdul Hamid, 31, a self-radicalized individual who was detained from 2010 to 2012 for intending to engage in armed violence in Afghanistan. He was released in 2012 and placed in an RO, but was detained again in April 2016 after investigations showed that he had once again believed that militant jihad was the easiest way to achieve martyrdom. It had also harbored the intention to fight alongside ISIS or other militant groups in Syria. He was released in an RO in April.
– Husaini Ismail, 61, a former member of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) arrested in June 2012, following his deportation to Singapore from Indonesia a month earlier. Husaini had fled Singapore following security operations against the JI network in December 2001. While on the run, he participated in the plot to hijack a plane and crash it into Changi Airport in January 2002. He was released in an RO in June.
– Rosli Hamzah, 54, a self-radicalized individual who was arrested in August 2016. He had harbored the intention to travel to Syria to fight alongside ISIS, and was released in an RO in August.
Expiration of restraining orders
Restraining orders issued against five other Singaporeans were also allowed to expire upon expiration, as they had shown good progress in their rehabilitation, the ISD said.
Are:
– Mohamed Mohideen Mohamed Jais, 30, who served as an armed sentry in Yemen while conducting religious studies there from 2009 to 2011. He was awarded an RO in March 2016, and allowed to expire in March this year.
– A self-radicalized Singaporean ISIS supporter who was 17 in July 2016 when he was awarded an RO. Your RO was allowed to expire in July. The ISD did not release his name.
– Mohamad Reiney Noor Mohd, 30, a self-radicalized individual who started supporting ISIS after finding its propaganda online. It was granted an RO in August 2016 and allowed to expire in August.
– Asrul Alias, 37, a self-radicalized individual who actively searched for pro-ISIS material online and shared it on Facebook and WhatsApp to spread his ideology. It was granted an RO in August 2016 and allowed to expire in August.
– Ishak Mohamed Noohu, 59, a former JI member who was arrested in November 2006 and released in an RO in November 2012. He had fled Singapore following security operations against the JI network in December 2001. While fleeing, he participated in the plot to hijack a plane and crash it into Changi Airport in January 2002. His RO was allowed to expire in October.
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