Author: Craig Francis
Publication: CNN
Date: January 7, 2002
URL: http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/southeast/01/07/singapore.arrests/index.html
Security at Singapore's American
Club has been beefed up
The Singapore government says it
has broken up a network of militants targeting the U.S. embassy and American
businesses after arresting 15 people with suspected links to Osama bin
Laden's al Qaeda group.
Defense Minister Tony Tan said the
suspects arrested in Singapore in December had planned to blow up embassies
and military installations, but he did not say which ones.
"Very high significance targets,
embassies, some of our military bases, places like that, places that would
have an impact, and significance throughout the world," Tan said at a news
conference.
Security around certain embassies
and other sensitive areas in Singapore has been tightened.
Police on Monday set up a roadblock
outside the Israeli Embassy and armed Gurkhas -- elite Nepalese fighters
who help maintain security across the region -- are guarding Singapore's
American Club.
The arrests in Singapore over the
weekend followed a similar swoop in neighboring Malaysia on Friday, raising
concerns that the region's close ties to Washington could make it a target
for terrorism.
"We believe that the network has
been disrupted. There is no information of any imminent threat," the Singapore
Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement received by CNN on Monday.
"American establishments, including
the U.S. embassy and commercial entities, were the principal targets for
attack."
Singapore, which has a ten percent
Muslim population, is a strong supporter of a U.S. military presence in
the Southeast Asian region.
"On that, I have no doubt, no doubt
whatsoever that Singaporeans, whatever their background, race, religion,
will condemn such acts of terrorism and planned terrorist activities,"
Singapore's Foreign Minister S. Kayakumuar said.
Military targets
The U.S. Embassy in Singapore. A
possible target Although the Singapore Ministry of Home Affairs and U.S.
Embassy remained tight-lipped over the possible military targets, the U.S
naval presence in Singapore is recognized as a potential terrorist target.
Singapore boasts the only pier outside
the U.S. at which a U.S. aircraft carrier can dock and hosts almost 100
U.S. Naval ship visits a year.
Terrorists with links to the al
Qaeda network are believed responsible for the bombing of the USS Cole
in Yemen in October 2000 that killed 17 U.S. Navy personnel.
The 15 suspects, comprising 14 Singaporeans
and one Malaysian, were arrested under laws allowing detention without
trial.
The Ministry of Home Affairs told
CNN on Monday that other media reports suggesting those arrested were members
of Singapore's military were misleading.
"Those arrested had completed compulsory
national service duties but were not full time members of Singapore's military,"
the spokeswoman said.
A U.S. Embassy spokesman, who spoke
on condition of anonymity, told the Associated Press news agency that Singapore
and the United States were "cooperating closely" and the United States
was confident Singapore could secure U.S. interests on the island.
Afghan connection
The 15 suspects were arrested after
authorities found detailed information on bomb construction and photographs
and video footage of targeted buildings in Singapore in the suspects' homes
and offices.
Al Qaeda-linked materials, falsified
passports and forged immigration stamps were also found, said a statement
from the Ministry of Home Affairs, which oversees police and internal security.
The arrests in Singapore and Malaysia
were the result of information provided by captured al Qaeda in Afghanistan.
Thirteen of those arrested in Singapore
were cell members of a secretive organization known as Jemaah Islamiah,
according to the Ministry of Information.
The activities of this group included
fund collection for terrorist groups, active surveillance of establishments
in Singapore targeted for terrorist bombing, as well as attempts to procure
materials for bomb construction, including large quantities of ammonium
nitrate, according to the Singapore government.
Businesses confident
The Singapore government says that
investigations are continuing and that there is no cause for panic amongst
the business community in the city-state.
But the arrests underline the fact
that U.S. businesses are being increasingly drawn into the fight against
terror.
However, Nicholas de Boursac, the
Managing Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore was
upbeat on the arrests, saying they will boost business confidence and investment
in the long term.
"We see this as a positive piece
of news rather than a negative one. We consider Singapore one of the safest
countries in the region and I think these events rather confirm that,"
de Boursac told CNN.
"The weekend's arrest of these supposed
terrorists is considered by the Singapore business community as quite good
news," he said.
"It's a sign that the intelligence
system works, that the Singapore government and the Malaysian government
are taking these issues very seriously and are being very effective."
