JAKARTA - A surprising statement came from Singapore's Minister of Law and Home Affairs, K Shanmugam. He said that Singapore received threats similar to the 9/11 attacks after expelling Ustaz Abdul Somad.
"Threats suggesting the 9/11 attacks have been carried out against Singapore by supporters of a preacher who are barred from entering the country," said Shanmugam.
The threat was conveyed by an Instagram account which has now been removed by the developer. Threats call Singapore an 'Islamophobic state' and ask the country's leaders within 48 hours to apologize to Muslims and the Indonesian people.
Instagram users have threatened to expel Singapore's ambassador to Indonesia and send troops if their demands are ignored.
Last Monday, UAS and six people traveling with him arrived at Singapore's Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal. However, they were refused entry and sent back to Batam.
A day after the rejection, Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said UAS was known to spread "extremist and segregational" teachings which are unacceptable in Singapore's multiracial and multireligious society.
Responding to questions from the media about whether Singaporeans should be concerned, Shanmugam said the threat should not be ignored.
"Parallels are drawn with 9/11, parallels are drawn with Singapore being led by non-Islamic leaders and that Singapore must be attacked, Singapore's interests must be attacked," he said. "So I'm not going to underestimate the comments."
Shanmugam also revealed that some of the people who have been investigated under the Internal Security Act are followers of Somad. These include a 17-year-old who was detained in January 2020.
The teenager had watched Somad's lectures on suicide bombings on YouTube and had come to believe that if he fought for ISIS and became a suicide bomber, he would die a martyr's death.
"So you can see, Somad's lectures have real-world consequences," Shanmugam said.
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