Singapore embassies attack plot
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The Singapore embassies attack plot was a plan in 2001 by
Jemaah Islamiyah Jemaah Islamiyah ( ar, الجماعة الإسلامية, ''al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmiyyah'', meaning "Islamic Congregation", frequently abbreviated JI) is a Southeast Asian militant extremist Islamist terrorist group based in Indonesia, which i ...
(JI) to
bomb A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the Exothermic process, exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-t ...
the
diplomatic missions A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...
and attack
personnel Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...
of the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Israel based in Singapore. There were also several other targets. The plot was uncovered in December 2001 and as many as 15 people were arrested in Singapore within a month. Further investigation and intelligence prompted the detention of another 26 persons from 2002 to 2005. As of 2006, 37 of them were still being detained without trial, under the
Internal Security Act Internal Security Act may refer to: * Internal Security Act 1960, former Malaysian law *Internal Security Act (Singapore) * McCarran Internal Security Act, a United States federal law *Suppression of Communism Act, 1950, a South African law, rename ...
. Four had been released on restriction orders.


JI branch in Singapore

The Singapore JI branch was started as early as 1993, when Ibrahim Maidin underwent military training in Afghanistan and was subsequently appointed leader of JI in Singapore. By conducting religious classes, Maidin began recruiting other members into the JI organisation. At least eight of the sleeper cell members had received training in Afghanistan.
Riduan Isamuddin Riduan Isamuddin also transliterated as Riduan Isamudin, Riduan Isomuddin, and Riduan Isomudin, better known by the ''nom de guerre'' Hambali, born as Encep Nurjaman (April 4, 1964) is the former military leader of the Indonesian terrorist org ...
, the leader of JI who is better known as Hambali, had arranged their travels to Pakistan, using false documents and cover stories that they were accepted by a religious school for religious studies. They stayed in an
al-Qaeda safe house Al-Qaeda is understood to have operated a number of safe houses, some of which were used as training centres. United States, American intelligence analysts justified the extrajudicial detention of some Guantanamo Bay detainment camp, Guantanamo ...
in Pakistan before travelling to Afghanistan, where they received training in the use of
AK-47 The AK-47, officially known as the ''Avtomat Kalashnikova'' (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is a gas operated, gas-operated assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian s ...
s, mortars, and military tactics. Several members also attended a training camp in southern Philippines, known as Camp Hudaybiyya, set up by
Moro Islamic Liberation Front The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF; ar, ''Jabhat Taḥrīr Moro al-ʾIslāmiyyah'') is a group based in Mindanao seeking an autonomous region of the Moro people from the central government. The group has a presence in the Bangsamoro r ...
(MILF) and run by Indonesian JI members. The Singapore branch of JI was organised into at least three groups. The first cell, which was called "''Fiah Ayub''" (first cell) and the second cell was called "''Fiah Musa''". The Singapore branch was headed by Ibrahim Maidin and Faiz bin Abi Bakar Bafana was the second in command. The Singapore branch was under the command of a Malaysia-based leadership structure called a regional ''shura'' (consultative council), within the larger network of JI organisation in Southeast Asia. Members of the cell did not attend local mosque or made little contact with other mainstream
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
ic organisations in the country. The group operated in tight secrecy and were using code words in their communication.


Surveillance activities

According to investigation, the cell had conducted survey for other targets as early as 1997, when the cell was planning to target the
Yishun MRT station Yishun MRT station is an above-ground Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station on the North South line (NSL) in Yishun, Singapore. The station is located at the junction of Yishun Avenue 2 and Yishun Avenue 5, and is currently one of the two MRT stat ...
, where American troops and their families used to take shuttle rides to a U.S. Navy site at
Sembawang Sembawang is a planning area and residential town located in the North Region of Singapore. Sembawang planning area is bordered by Simpang to the east, Mandai to the south, Yishun to the southeast, Woodlands to the west and the Straits of Jo ...
for recreation activities at a sports complex coincidentally known as "Terror Club", named after the last Royal Navy's shore accommodation establishment around the same area, HMS Terror. In 1999, a member of the Singapore cell, Khalim Jaffar travelled to Afghanistan and presented the plan to Al Qaeda's leaders.
Mohammed Atef Mohammed Atef ( ar, محمد عاطف, ; born Sobhi Mohammed Abu Sitta Al-Gohary, also known as Abu Hafs al-Masri) was the military chief of al-Qaeda, and was considered one of Osama bin Laden's two deputies, the other being Ayman Al Zawahiri, ...
, a close aide of
Osama bin Laden Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until Killing of Osama bin Laden, his death in 2011. Ideologically a Pan-Islamism ...
, gave JI the go-ahead for the attack. In April 2001, a member of the cell, who was working at the
ST Aerospace ST Engineering Aerospace, formerly known as ST Aerospace, is the commercial aerospace entity of ST Engineering. Headquartered in Singapore, it has international offices and facilities located at aviation hubs in Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Unit ...
, took photographs of American military aircraft and personnel at
Paya Lebar Airbase The Paya Lebar Air Base is a military airbase of the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) located at Airport Road in Paya Lebar, in the eastern region of Singapore. The airbase goes by the motto of ''Strength Through Readiness''. It was ...
, and distributed them to other cell members. The cell had also surveyed other potential targets including water pipelines at the Johor-Singapore Causeway,
Singapore Changi Airport Singapore Changi Airport, commonly known as Changi Airport , is a major civilian international airport that serves Singapore, and is one of the largest transportation hubs in Asia. As one of the world's busiest airports by international passe ...
, the Singapore Air Traffic Control Center at Biggin Hill Road, and the Ministry of Defence at
Bukit Gombak Bukit Gombak is a subzone of Bukit Batok, Singapore. It is a hilly neighbourhood in the west-central area of the Southeast Asian city-state of Singapore. In the Malay language, ''bukit'' means hill and ''gombak'' a bunch or collection of somethi ...


Embassies attack plot

In early October 2001,
Fathur Rahman al-Ghozi Fathur Rahman al-Ghozi (17 February 1971 – 12 October 2003) was a key operative and bomb-maker of the Islamic militant Jemaah Islamiya group (JI). Al-Ghozi was accused of plotting and carrying out several terrorist attacks in the Philippines, Ind ...
, also known as Mike, and Mohammed Jabarah, also known as Sammy, flew to Singapore and directed the sleeper cell to conduct "final reconnaissance" and video recordings of potential targets. The two operatives gave instructions to the cell to prepare for attacks in Singapore. Among the targets were U.S. and Israeli Embassies, British and Australian High Commissions, the Singapore American School, and commercial buildings housing US firms. They planned to launch the attacks in December 2001/January 2002 or April/May 2002. Philippine authorities said that al-Ghozi, a bombmaker, had three Philippine passports and an Indonesian passport. Investigators later revealed al-Ghozi's ties with
Abu Bakar Bashir Abu Bakar Ba'asyir ( ; ar, أبو بكر باعشير, ʾAbū Bakr Bāʿašīr; ; ; born 17 August 1938) also known as Abu Bakar Bashir, Abdus Somad, and Ustad Abu ("Teacher Abu") is an Indonesian Muslim cleric and leader of Jamaah Ansharut Tauh ...
, the alleged spiritual head of
Jemaah Islamiyah Jemaah Islamiyah ( ar, الجماعة الإسلامية, ''al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmiyyah'', meaning "Islamic Congregation", frequently abbreviated JI) is a Southeast Asian militant extremist Islamist terrorist group based in Indonesia, which i ...
. al-Ghozi had studied in Bashir's religious school in Indonesia for six years. The other man, Sammy, was later identified as Mohd Mansour Jabarah, a Canadian national of Arab descent, who was in US custody (as of 2003) and sentenced to life in prison in 2008. The cell members then set off to procure 17 tons of explosives, especially that of precursor
ammonium nitrate Ammonium nitrate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is a white crystalline salt consisting of ions of ammonium and nitrate. It is highly soluble in water and hygroscopic as a solid, although it does not form hydrates. It is ...
, along with trucks and
chemical A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wi ...
s. JI has close ties with Kumpulan Militan Malaysia (KMM), a militant group in Malaysia.
Yazid Sufaat Yazid Sufaat (born 20 January 1964), also known as Yazud bin Sufaat or Yazid Shufaat, is a Malaysian member of the extremist Islamist terrorist organisation Jemaah Islamiyah from shortly after its foundation in 1993 until his arrest by Malaysian ...
, a KMM member, had purchased 4 tons of ammonium nitrate which were already made available to the Singapore cell for the bombings. In an interview on PBS,
Lee Kuan Yew Lee Kuan Yew (16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), born Harry Lee Kuan Yew, often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean lawyer and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Singapore between 1959 and 1990, and Secretary-General o ...
pointed out that each bomb would be twice the size of the one detonated by
Timothy McVeigh Timothy James McVeigh (April 23, 1968 – June 11, 2001) was an American domestic terrorist responsible for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people, 19 of whom were children, injured more than 680 others, and destroyed one-third o ...
at the Alfred P. Murrah building in
Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...
.


Failure of plot

After the
11 September 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...
, an informant told the Internal Security Department about Muhammad Aslam Yar Ali Khan, who is a Singaporean citizen of Pakistani descent and had made claims of having ties with Al-Qaeda. Khan was placed under surveillance, but he abruptly left Singapore for Pakistan on 4 October. He was later captured by
United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan The Northern Alliance, officially known as the United Islamic National Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan ( prs, جبهه متحد اسلامی ملی برای نجات افغانستان ''Jabha-yi Muttahid-i Islāmi-yi Millī barāyi Nijāt ...
officials. His interrogation led investigators to the Singaporean cell. Singapore authorities conducted the first raid on 8 December 2001, arresting six people. A total of 15 people were arrested within a month. During the raids, the police seized documents of the attack plots and bomb making information, as well as photographs and surveillance video of the intended targets including the embassies. Fake passports and forged immigration documents were also found. Soon after, a JI-made surveillance video was recovered among the rubble of a house that was bombed by US coalition forces in
Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...
, Afghanistan. It was the home of
Mohammed Atef Mohammed Atef ( ar, محمد عاطف, ; born Sobhi Mohammed Abu Sitta Al-Gohary, also known as Abu Hafs al-Masri) was the military chief of al-Qaeda, and was considered one of Osama bin Laden's two deputies, the other being Ayman Al Zawahiri, ...
, a close aide of
Osama bin Laden Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until Killing of Osama bin Laden, his death in 2011. Ideologically a Pan-Islamism ...
. The video showed a narrator in Singapore, Hashim bin Abas, describing how bombs could be hidden to attack United States interests. Besides the
embassies A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...
, the plotters were also planning to target
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
warplane A military aircraft is any fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft that is operated by a legal or insurrectionary armed service of any type. Military aircraft can be either combat or non-combat: * Combat aircraft are designed to destroy enemy equi ...
s that were stationed at Paya Lebar Air Force Base, as well as several United States companies and businesses. There were also plans to attack U.S. Navy
warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster a ...
s along Singapore's coastlines, similar to the
USS Cole bombing The USS ''Cole'' bombing was a suicide attack by the terrorist group al-Qaeda against , a guided missile destroyer of the United States Navy, on 12 October 2000, while she was being refueled in Yemen's Aden harbor. Seventeen U.S. Navy sailo ...
in Yemen in October 2000. The JI group were also plotting to attack
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
personnel and their families who often traveled between the
Yishun MRT station Yishun MRT station is an above-ground Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station on the North South line (NSL) in Yishun, Singapore. The station is located at the junction of Yishun Avenue 2 and Yishun Avenue 5, and is currently one of the two MRT stat ...
and
Sembawang Sembawang is a planning area and residential town located in the North Region of Singapore. Sembawang planning area is bordered by Simpang to the east, Mandai to the south, Yishun to the southeast, Woodlands to the west and the Straits of Jo ...
Wharf A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths (mooring locatio ...
via shuttle buses. The video also detailed how bombs could be planted in the sewers and drains near the Yishun MRT Station in order to cause massive casualties when targeting United States personnel. The video also showed a man describing how explosives could be strapped on bicycles and be transported without raising suspicion. Investigators in Singapore had found similar tapes at the residence of Mohamed Khalim bin Jaffar, one of arrested JI members. The Singapore government presented these material as evidence of a direct link between the JI group and Al-Qaeda. On 15 January 2002,
Fathur Rahman al-Ghozi Fathur Rahman al-Ghozi (17 February 1971 – 12 October 2003) was a key operative and bomb-maker of the Islamic militant Jemaah Islamiya group (JI). Al-Ghozi was accused of plotting and carrying out several terrorist attacks in the Philippines, Ind ...
was arrested by authorities in the Philippines. He gave police information that led to a cache of rifles, explosive and bomb-making material in Southern Philippines. These were believed to be part of the embassies attack plot. In August 2002, ISD conducted another major security operation and arrested 18 persons, most of them were members of JI, while two were members of the
Moro Islamic Liberation Front The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF; ar, ''Jabhat Taḥrīr Moro al-ʾIslāmiyyah'') is a group based in Mindanao seeking an autonomous region of the Moro people from the central government. The group has a presence in the Bangsamoro r ...
(MILF), a militant separatist group in the Philippines.


Aftermath


Heightened security

Following the arrests, the U.S., British, and Australian embassies in Singapore were placed on heightened alert. Members of the elite
Gurkha Contingent The Gurkha Contingent (GC) is a line department of the Singapore Police Force (SPF) consisting primarily of Gurkhas from Nepal, recruited by the British Army with the purview of the Government of Singapore. The contingent's roles are as a spe ...
of the
Singapore Police Force The Singapore Police Force (SPF) is the national and principal law enforcement agency responsible for the prevention of crime and law enforcement in the Republic of Singapore. It is the country's lead agency against organised crime; human, wea ...
were posted at the embassies to enhance their security.


Timeline

Timeline of plot, arrests and related incidents. * 1993 – Sleeper cell began to form in Singapore. * 1997 – Cell conducted surveillance at Yishun MRT station * April 2001 – Cell conducted surveillance at
Paya Lebar Airbase The Paya Lebar Air Base is a military airbase of the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) located at Airport Road in Paya Lebar, in the eastern region of Singapore. The airbase goes by the motto of ''Strength Through Readiness''. It was ...
. * 11 September 2001 – Coordinated series of terrorist attacks in the United States by
Al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
. * September 2001 – An informant told Internal Security Department of Muhammad Aslam Yar Ali Khan's ties with Al-Qaeda. Ali Khan was placed under surveillance. * 4 October 2001 – Muhammad Aslam Yar Ali Khan left for Pakistan, he was soon captured by
Northern Alliance The Northern Alliance, officially known as the United Islamic National Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan ( prs, جبهه متحد اسلامی ملی برای نجات افغانستان ''Jabha-yi Muttahid-i Islāmi-yi Millī barāyi Nijāt ...
. * 7 October 2001 – U.S. invaded Afghanistan. * 7 October 2001 –
Fathur Rahman al-Ghozi Fathur Rahman al-Ghozi (17 February 1971 – 12 October 2003) was a key operative and bomb-maker of the Islamic militant Jemaah Islamiya group (JI). Al-Ghozi was accused of plotting and carrying out several terrorist attacks in the Philippines, Ind ...
and Sammy arrived in Singapore to direct sleeper cell. * 8 December 2001 – ISD conducts its first raid, arresting 6 people. A total of 15 people would be arrested in December 2001. * January 2002 – 2 people were released on Restriction Order * 15 January 2002 – Al-Ghozi was arrested in the Philippines, a large cache of explosives was uncovered * August 2002 – ISD arrested another 21 people * September 2002 – 3 people were released on Restriction Order * 12 October 2002 – Bali bombing by Jemaah Islamiyah.


List of detainees

;List of persons arrested in December 2001 – January 2002 * Ibrahim Maidin, leader of Singapore JI branch * Faiz bin Abu Bakar Bafana, second-in-command * Mohamed Khalim bin Jaffar, leader of ''Fiah Ayub'' (first cell) * Fazi Abu Bakar Bafana, * Hashim bin Abas, * Mohamed Nazir bin Mohammed Uthman, * Adnan bin Musa, * Andrew Gerard @ Ali Ridhaa bin Abdullah, * Halim bin Hussain, * Mohamad Anuar bin Margono, * Ja'afar bin Mistooki, * Mohamed Ellias s/o Mohamed Khan, * Othman bin Mohamed, ;List of persons arrested in August – September 2002: * Ab Wahab bin Ahmad * Syed Ibrahim * Simon bin Sabtu * Mohamed Noor bin Sulaimi, * Munain bin Turru, * Naharudin bin Sabtu, * Sanin bin Riffin, * Nordin bin Parman, * Mohd Jauhari bin Abdullah, * Salim bin Marwan, * Mahfuh bin Haji Halimi, * Azman bin Jalani, * Said bin Ismail, * Faiz Abdullah Ashiblie, * Zulkifli bin Mohamed Jaffar, * Habibullah s/o Hameed, * Husin bin Ab Aziz, * Abdul Majid s/o Niaz Mohamed. Detained in September 2002, released in April 2005. ;Detained between October 2002 and December 2003 * Mohd Aslam bin Yar Ali Khan * Arifin bin Ali, * Muhammad Arif bin Naharudin * Muhammad Amin bin Mohd Yunos * Hosnay bin Awi, * Alahuddeen bin Abdullah * Faisel bin Abdullah Abdat. Detained in February 2003, released in October 2002 ;Detained in April 2005 * Jahpar bin Osman. Detained on 21 April 2005


In Literature

A book entitled "Bullets and Train" has been written about an Al-Qaeda terrorist plot in Singapore which discusses the videos, making them a part of the central plot.


See also

*
Jemaah Islamiyah Jemaah Islamiyah ( ar, الجماعة الإسلامية, ''al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmiyyah'', meaning "Islamic Congregation", frequently abbreviated JI) is a Southeast Asian militant extremist Islamist terrorist group based in Indonesia, which i ...
*
2002 Bali bombing The 2002 Bali bombings occurred on 12 October 2002 in the tourist district of Kuta on the Indonesian island of Bali. The attack killed 202 people (including 88 Australians, 38 Indonesians, 23 Britons, and people of more than 20 other nationalit ...
*
Counter-terrorism in Singapore Counter-terrorism in Singapore is a series of detection and prevention measures to minimize the damage caused by terrorism. These measures involve the participation of all levels of society, including defence, internal security, border and infra ...


References

{{IslamismSEA Counterterrorism in Singapore Jemaah Islamiyah Terrorist incidents in Asia in 2001 Terrorist incidents in Singapore 2001 crimes in Singapore Failed terrorist attempts in Asia Attack plots targeting diplomatic missions of the United States