Re: Internal security department
Terrorism
Singapore experienced its first terrorist incident on 31 Jan 74, when terrorists from the Japanese Red Army (JRA) bombed petroleum tanks at Pulau Bukom. During their escape from Pulau Bukom, the terrorists hijacked a ferry boat, “Laju” and took some crew member as hostages. The JRA terrorists demanded the release of their jailed comrades in other countries. The ordeal ended with several ISD and government officers volunteering as “hostages” in exchange for the release of civilian hostages. Among the Singapore officials was the then Director of Security & Intelligence Division, Mr S R Nathan (now the President of Singapore). Singapore faced another terrorist incident in 1991 when four Pakistanis hijacked a Singapore Airlines shuttle flight SQ 117 from Subang International Airport (Kuala Lumpur) with 129 passengers onboard. The ISD played a significant role in collecting tactical intelligence crucial to the successful storming of the aircraft by SAF commandos.
ISD and government officers volunteering as hostage in exchange for the release of civilian hostages.
Hijack of SQ117
The ISD is also involved in neutralising several attempts by terrorist groups using Singapore to raise funds or to procure electronic parts in aid of their struggle. In 1985, the ISD took actions to neutralise a local network of the Liberation Tiger of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) headed by Sri Lankans working in Singapore. Key leaders and activists of the network were arrested and expelled to countries of their choice. In Nov 2000, the ISD carried out a security operation against another local network of the LTTE whose principal activities were the secret collection and transfer of funds. These operations served to put these individuals on notice that the authorities will not tolerate their use of Singapore and Singapore citizens/permanent residents in activities which are prejudicial to Singapore’s security interests.
In Dec 2001, the ISD disrupted a terrorist cell here called the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) which is part of a larger regional network with cells in Malaysia and Indonesia. The local JI members were planning to attack targets like Western embassies and personnel. Following leads from the first arrests, the ISD conducted another wave of arrests in Aug 2002 to detain more JI members. As a result, the local JI network was seriously disrupted.
Besides the 31 persons detained in the 2 major security operations, 7 other persons were arrested and detained between 5 Oct 2002 and 20 Dec 2003 in the on-going investigations (one of them was later released on Restriction Order). Another 12 Singaporeans, who have been assessed to be peripherally involved in terrorist activities, were served with Restriction Orders in Jan 2004. Ten of them were JI members and 2 others were members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) based in the Philippines. Thirty other persons were also warned to cease their links with terrorist groups.
The Advisory Board, an independent panel headed by a High Court judge, had reviewed the Orders of Detention (OD) of the JI members detained and upheld ISD’s recommendations. The Government has also published a White Paper on JI Arrests and The Threat of Terrorism [Press releases on the JI arrests and White Paper].
In total, there are currently 37 persons detained under the ISA for terrorism-related activities in support of the JI and/or MILF. The ODs against the first group of 13 JI members arrested in Dec 2001 were recently extended by the Government for a 2-year term.[Press releases on the JI arrests and White Paper]
Espionage
While a terrorist incident is highly visible, espionage cases are not. In 1982, the ISD exposed and expelled two Russian spies for espionage activities in Singapore. One was Anatoly Alexeyevich Larkin, a Soviet military intelligence (GRU) officer, who attempted to cultivate a SAF army officer holding the rank of 2nd Lieutenant to conduct espionage against the SAF. The other was Alexander Alexandrovich Bondarev, another Soviet military intelligence officer, who was sent to take over a Soviet spy network which had a local agent working for it since the 1970s.
More recent cases include the ones when the ISD arrested two persons in 1997 and another 4 persons in 1998 under the ISA for involvement in espionage and foreign subversive activities prejudicial to the security of Singapore. Of the two persons arrested in 1997, one was a male Singapore Permanent Resident who was a deep-cover operative of a foreign intelligence service. He had used the other, a female Singaporean, as a collaborator. Of the four Singapore citizens detained in 1998, three were controlled agents for a foreign intelligence agency. One of them recruited the fourth person to collect intelligence on and to subvert a local community organisation. All six of them have been released.