Singaporean terrorist jailed in Indonesia denounces Taliban

A Singaporean terrorist serving an 18-year jail term in Indonesia has released a video denouncing the Taliban, but a security expert warns that this is likely to be a bid to convince the Indonesian government that he is no longer a threat.

In a 20-minute video filmed on the prison island of Nusakambangan in Central Java last month, Mohammad Hassan Saynudin, better known as Fajar Taslim, slammed the Taliban as "fanatics", and called the group's takeover of Afghanistan "un-Islamic".

Sporting a white Muslim skullcap and a tidy beard, Hassan said in Bahasa Indonesia: "Disaster will befall them because they did it in a haram manner, the way that is forbidden in Islam. In the end, they will all perish."

His remarks were relayed to The Straits Times by Mr Muh Taufiqurrohman, a senior researcher at the Centre for Radicalism and Deradicalisation Studies - a Jakarta-based think-tank - who has seen the video.

Hassan, 49, a former member of the Singapore chapter of South-east Asian extremist group Jemaah Islamiah (JI), and his ally, Singaporean terror leader Mas Selamat Kastari, had plotted to crash a plane into Changi Airport in 2001.

Hassan fled Singapore in 2001 to evade a security dragnet and travelled to Afghanistan to undergo military training. There, he claimed to have met then Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

Hassan said in the video that the Islamic rituals practised in Afghanistan were different, and the government could not provide economically for its people. "You go there and realise there is nothing to eat because the Taliban government can't provide food (for the people)."

After about a year in Afghanistan, Hassan headed for Indonesia, where he set up a terror group to launch attacks against Westerners. He was arrested by the Indonesian police in 2008 and sentenced to 18 years in prison in April 2009 for killing a Christian school teacher and for his role in terror plots.

In the video, he expressed regret for "rebelling" against the government, and blamed "clerics who pretended to be smart but instead led me astray".

He praised the Indonesian government for looking after the welfare of Muslims in the country.

Mr Taufiqurrohman, however, said Hassan still maintains a close relationship with active JI members who support the Taliban as well as pro-Islamic State in Iraq and Syria extremists in Indonesia.

Hassan is due to complete his jail term on Nov 25 next year, but could be released several months earlier under Indonesia's prisoner remission programme.

He had previously said he wanted to apply for Indonesian citizenship and intended to stay on in Indonesia after his release.

Mr Taufiqurrohman said: "He hopes that the statements will encourage the Indonesian government not to extradite him to Singapore upon his release."