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January 29, 2010

10 terrorists arrested in Malaysia have ties to underwear bomber

Jane Jamison
Ten suspects, from Jordan, Syria, Nigerian and Yemen, believed to be tied to the Nigerian student who attempted to blow up a plane over Michigan Christmas day, were arrested last week in Malaysia. The Malaysian government is just now going public with the alleged plot.

The government news agency, New Strait Times says one suspect was Malaysian. Authorities acted on a tip that a number of potential terrorists were meeting near the city of Kuala Lumpur and had been connected to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who unsuccessfully tried to detonate explosives which were hidden in his underwear on a Northwest Airlines plane approaching Detroit.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said the nine foreigners had only just arrived here when they were nabbed.  They would not have had time to do much and establish themselves here," Hishammuddin said.  They posed a serious security threat to the country and have been detained under the ISA (Internal Security Act.)

AFP  reports from Kuala Lumpur that American investigators tipped off Malaysian authorities about a possible terrorist attack on tourists in Borneo.

Malaysian Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said Wednesday that the suspects were being held under the Internal Security Act (ISA), which allows for indefinite detention without trial.

Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh, chairman of the Abolish ISA Movement, said the activist group had learned that 50 people were detained on January 21 as they attended a religious lecture on the fringes of the capital Kuala Lumpur.

He said the majority were released the following day but that 12 remained in detention -- including a Malaysian, two Nigerians, four Syrians, one Yemeni and one Jordanian.

"The house they were at was forced into without warning by the police action forces using force and weapons," he told a press conference.

American handling of  accused bomber Abdulmutallab has been sharply criticized, because the Justice department granted the Nigerian full civilian rights and an attorney shortly after his arrest.  Once he was "lawyered up," Abdulmutallab cut off contact with police.   

Fortunately, the suspect was reportedly talking openly as he was being removed from the plane in Detroit.  During the 50 minutes before he was given a Miranda warning, Abdulmutallab apparently gave details about approximately 20 other suspects who were trained with him in Yemen to conduct bombing attacks.

Malaysia's policy of "open-ended" detention of terrorism suspects is obviously a much tougher approach than what is being done in the U.S.

 Malaysia's controversial ISA has been used in the past against alleged militants, including members of Southeast Asian extremist group Jemaah Islamiyah, which is linked to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network.

One JI member released in 2008 is accused of hosting a planning meeting ahead of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Analysts say that other militants affiliated with Al-Qaeda have used Kuala Lumpur for meetings and logistics.

During the week that Malaysia has apparently been holding the group of alleged terrorists, the national security warnings for both the United Kingdom and the United States were elevated.  At least six persons on the "no-fly" list were turned away from airports in Africa and London as they tried to board flights to the U.S.   There were also reports that female suicide bombers with American passports had also trained with Abdulmutallab.

Clearly, Al Qaida is "swarming."

Jane Jamison is publisher of the conservative news/commentary blog, UNCOVERAGE.net

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