Mosques here however have imposed strict guidelines for the preachers to stick to religion and avoid venturing into politics, with some vetting the speeches, the report said.

It said some of the foreign teachers are so popular that they can attract thousands to stadium rallies in the largely Chinese city-state which has a sizeable Muslim, mostly ethnic Malay, community.

At least three leaders of the hardline Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS) are regular speakers in mosques and religious groups here, according to the report.

PAS is advocating an Islamic state in Malaysia, a largely Muslim nation just across a causeway from Singapore.

"We give them do's and dont's and they abide by the rules, said Yahya Hashim, manager of the Al-Falah mosque.

One of the three PAS leaders, state assemblyman Datuk Ismail Kamus, speaks here once a month and has "a following," said Abdul Latiff Othman, executive officer of a local mosque.

The role of foreign Islamic religious preachers has been highlighted in a White Paper released by the Singapore government last week on the threat posed by the militant Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) group.

Singapore authorities have detained 31 suspected JI members for an alleged plot to bomb US and other targets here as part of the global terrorist campaign led by Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network and allied organisations.

The paper, which detailed how the recruits were indoctrinated with militant ideas, has asked the local Islamic leaders to help curb the creeping of militancy into the local Muslim community.

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