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INDONESIA: A Singaporean member of the terror network Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), who is facing charges under Indonesia's anti-terrorism law, said he is ready to face the consequences for his actions.
Trained in Afghanistan, Mohammad Hassan Saynudin alias Fajar Taslim fled Singapore in 2001 with other JI members after Singapore authorities began to arrest terror suspects following the September 11 attack in the United States.
Mohammad Hassan was on the run in Indonesia for seven years before he was arrested in South Sumatra six months ago.
He said: "Three years I was in Java, four years in Palembang. While in Java, I didn't do anything. I was lying low, keeping a low profile. But it was in Palembang where I started venturing out. As a Singaporean, I have something valuable here – English. So I taught English and I could feed myself and my family."
It was in Palembang that Mohammad Hassan met other extremists. They eventually formed a group called Jemaah Palembang and assembled dozens of homemade bombs.
The group is alleged to have killed a teacher in Palembang, attempted to kill three Christian priests and to bomb a café where Westerners congregated.
According to court papers, Mohammad Hassan mooted the idea of killing the teacher because he had shown disrespect to Muslim students who donned the headscarf.
"There are things which I regret and there are things which I don't. Anything which is not in accordance with the Quran and Sunnah, I regret. But if it is according to the Quran and Sunnah, I do not regret even a bit," he said.
Mohammad Hassan and his nine other accomplices could face the death penalty under Indonesia's anti-terrorism law. The trial is expected to take months as prosecutors attempt to prove the role played by each of the suspects.
- CNA/so
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