"It's not a problem that is going to go away," warned Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

"Singapore is also vulnerable. We are a financial centre, we are an economic hub ... It happened in the US. We can take precautions but we can never say it will not happen in Singapore."

Multi-racial, multi-religious Singapore has backed the US-led anti-terrorism coalition and was tracking regional connections of Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden who is accused of masterminding the suicide attacks which left about 5700 dead or missing in the United States.

In an interview with Channel News Asia late September 30, Lee said Singapore could not pretend it was not engaged in the fight against terrorism as he cited evidence of terrorist groups in the city-state's closest neighbours.

The notorious Abu Sayyaf kidnap gang in the southern Philippines has been "traced back to a brother-in-law of Osama bin Laden who set it up and they are funding things and training groups," Lee said.

"In Indonesia, there are also groups linked back to Osama and there are groups like the Lakshar Jihad ... they are not just Indonesians but Muslim extremists who have come to Indonesia to join in the fight against Christians in the Malukus."

Malaysia, Singapore's sole land neighbour, was "very worried" about the Kumpulan Mujahedin Malaysia a group which was trained in Afghanistan where bin Laden lives as a "guest," Lee said.

Although most of the city-state's 3.2 million citizens are Chinese, there are significant numbers are Malays, most of whom follow Islam.

"We must constantly remind ourselves we are Singaporeans. We are in this together. It's not done by Singaporean Muslims," Lee said.

But he admitted there was a minority "who may not be so moderate in their views ... if you read some of the websites which are posted overseas, but known to be Singaporean websites, quite intemperate views are expressed."

One area where Singapore was assisting the United States was with anti-money laundering but Lee said checks of bank records in the name of bin Laden, his associates and fake names have failed to reveal any funds.

The deputy premier, a son of Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew, said the terrorist threat would not end with the arrest of bin Laden, and the forces which fed a network involving "tens of thousands of people" would not be easy to overcome.

"To train, to prepare, to organise, to spend years, to plan everything and finally, at the right day, calmly take over the aeroplane and fly into a skyscraper, that's something very powerful driving these people."

Singapore has twice been the target of terrorist action. In 1974 the Japanese Red Army highjacked a ferry boat and in 1991 Pakistan militants took over a Singapore Airlines flight.
                                                            Home