Singapore detains first woman citizen suspected of radicalism

Singapore: Singapore said on Monday it has detained an assistant childcare worker suspected of trying to join Daesh and to find a militant husband in Syria, and was holding her under a tough security law that allows for detention without trial.

The detention of the first Singaporean woman for suspected Islamist radicalism comes as concern is growing about the spread of Daesh in the region. Singapore and its neighbours recently began intelligence cooperation aimed at stemming the movement of militants across their borders.

Singapore has reiterated over the past year that it is a target of Islamist groups and has urged the public to be alert.

The suspect, Syaikhah Izzah Zahrah Al Ansari, 22, was detained this month for intending to make her way to Syria to join Daesh in Iraq and Syria with her child, the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement.

“She supported [Daesh’s] use of violence to establish and defend its self-declared ‘caliphate’, and aspired to live in it,” the ministry said.

Izzah, a contract assistant at an infant care centre, was radicalised as early as 2013 by online propaganda with links to Islamic State and she shared pro-Daesh material on social media.

She had also sought a militant husband in Syria, the ministry said.

“She said that since 2015, she was looking for ‘a Salafi or a [Daesh] supporter’ to marry and settle down with him and her child in Syria,” the ministry said.

“She said she would support her husband if he fought for [Daesh] in Syria as she believed she would reap ‘heavenly rewards’ if he died in battle. With her ‘elevated status’ as a ‘martyr’s widow’, she felt she could easily marry another [Daesh] fighter in Syria.” Izzah has been detained under the Internal Security Act, a colonial-era law that allows authorities to detain anyone seen as a threat to security for up to two years.

Three male Singaporeans have been detained under the act over the past year.

Two of them were “Syria-bound militants” while the third was detained for “terrorism-related activities” which included supporting Daesh and encouraging violence through Facebook posts.

Diverse, affluent Singapore is majority ethnic Chinese with sizeable minority ethnic Malay and ethnic Indian communities, and numerous foreign workers from Asia and beyond.

Singapore said late last year it had deported nearly 70 foreigners including five maids for suspected radicalism over the previous two years.

Authorities in neighbouring Indonesia, which has the world’s largest Muslim population, said last year they had arrested six Indonesian suspects with links to Daesh who were plotting an attack on Singapore.