MUSLIM RELIGIOUS TEACHERS TRYING TO REEDUCATE JI

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SINGAPORE 003146

SIPDIS

NOFORN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/25/2015
TAGS: PTER PGOV SN
SUBJECT: MUSLIM RELIGIOUS TEACHERS TRYING TO REEDUCATE JI
DETAINEES

REF: SINGAPORE 3077

Classified By: EP Counselor Laurent Charbonnet, Reasons 1.4(b)(d)


1. (C/NF) Summary: Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs
Minister Wong Kan Seng has for the first time publicly
thanked Muslim religious leaders trying to reeducate
suspected Jemaah Islamiah (JI) terrorists detained under
Singapore's Internal Security Act (ISA). The head of the
Religious Rehabilitation Group (RRG) later told us the
process is slowly "succeeding," but is a long-term effort
that may not work with all the detainees. Minister in Charge
of Muslim Affairs Yaacob Ibrahim said the rehabilitation
effort is vital in combating Islamic terrorism, so that
Muslims who have gone astray know they can return to the
"right path." Having independent religious leaders
corroborate that the detainees are indeed terrorists linked
to Al-Qaeda was key to winning Muslim community support for
their detentions, according to Ibrahim. End Summary.

Religious Rehabilitation Group Volunteers
--------------


2. (C/NF) At a Ramadan fast-breaking dinner on October 17,
Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng
publicly honored the Muslim religious teachers (ustaz)
working to reeducate the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) detainees and
their families. Media reports revealed to the general public
for the first time the work of the Religious Rehabilitation
Group (RRG),whose activities have gradually been shared with
expanding numbers of Muslim leaders over the past two years.
These initial press accounts named only the directors of the
RRG, Ustaz Ali of Khadijah Mosque and Ustaz Mohamed Hasbi,
the head of the Islamic Religious Teachers' Association of
Singapore (PERGAS). The approximately 30 other religious
counselors were not identified to protect them and their
families, according to Muslim reporters covering the story
and Minister in Charge of Muslim Affairs Dr. Yaacob Ibrahim.
A subsequent story and photo in the Malay-language newspaper
Berita Harian on October 21 revealed the identities of
several other volunteers, to the dismay of at least one of
the clerics pictured.


3. (C/NF) Note: The GOS has protected the identities of these
clerics extraordinarily carefully, until now. Permanent
Secretary of Home Affairs Benny Lim claimed to S/CT

SIPDIS
Ambassador Crumpton on October 19 that the clerics had become
more comfortable with public acknowledgment of their role
(reftel). Ustaz Ali told us he believes that the detainees
were unquestionably linked to Al-Qaeda and they still have
some sympathizers within the community, a statement with
which Minister Yaacob did not disagree. This could explain
the lingering hesitancy to identify any but the leaders of
the RRG. End note.


4. (C/NF) Ustaz Ali, Dr. Yaacob Ibrahim, Haji Alami Musa,
President of the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore
(MUIS),and Feisal, another volunteer counselor (please
protect all),later privately outlined the work of the RRG to
us. Dr. Yaacob explained that after the JI arrests in
December 2001, Ustaz Ali and several other religious leaders
offered to reeducate the detainees with "proper" Islamic
knowledge. Ustaz Ali recruited other volunteers, most of
whom had received their post-secondary religious education
throughout the Muslim world (including Saudi Arabia); they
ranged from older, senior clerics like Ustaz Ali (who sits on
the MUIS council and is a past president of PERGAS) to young
men in their 30s like Feisal. (Comment: Previously, the
Internal Security Department (ISD) told us that these
religious leaders demanded access to the detainees after
their arrests to ensure they were not being falsely accused
or ill-treated. After meeting with the detainees, according
to ISD, the clerics said "they're crazy" and volunteered to
correct their misunderstandings of Islam. End comment.)

RRG's Program
--------------


5. (C/NF) For the past couple of years, the volunteers have
been working with the detainees about two hours each day in
their cells to understand their terrorist ideology and
replace it with proper Islamic knowledge, according to Ustaz
Ali. The volunteers have compiled an English-language manual
that outlines the detainees' ideology and provides Islamic
arguments against terrorism. Ustaz Ali said the detainees
had memorized all the Koranic passages advocating violent
jihad, but had been ignorant of other passages commanding
inter-faith harmony, which the volunteers teach them.


6. (C/NF) The GOS and Malay/Muslim community members are
working hard to ensure the detainees do not come to be viewed
as martyrs. Malay/Muslim community groups are providing
financial assistance, job training, and educational support
to the detainees' families, which helps keep the JI
detentions from alienating the Malay/Muslim population,
according to Haji Alami. RRG counselors are teaching the
detainees' families about Islam, to keep them from becoming a
new generation of terrorists. In the hope that terrorists'
misinterpretations of Islam don't take root in the larger
Muslim community, RRG members are giving public talks on
issues such as the meaning of jihad in Islam, and MUIS is
revamping Singapore's Islamic education system.


7. (C/NF) To stop terrorism, it is important to give Muslims
who go down the wrong path hope that they can be reeducated
and return to society, Dr. Yaacob said. Singaporean Muslims,
especially religious leaders, need to hear from these clerics
that the detainees are indeed terrorists and the GOS acted
correctly in arresting them, he added.

Results
--------------


8. (C/NF) Ustaz Ali and Feisal claimed that the reeducation
is going well. Feisal commented that his detainee, who
originally denounced him as a "government lapdog," now "looks
forward" to his visits. The detainees who have been released
are attending mosques (where they hear RRG-style Islamic
teaching),rather than studying and worshipping apart from
the community as before, said Dr. Yaacob. This will be a
slow process taking years, and some detainees (like the
"Emir", the ringleader, with whom Ustaz Ali has worked) "will
never be rehabilitated," Ustaz Ali and Dr. Yaacob
acknowledged.


9. (C/NF) Comment: The GOS seeks to convince its Muslim
minority that its counterterrorism actions are not directed
against Singapore's Muslim community or Islam, per se, and to
reassure non-Muslim Singaporeans of the Malay community's
loyalty. Recent bombings in London and Bali and continued
violence in southern Thailand have rattled nerves here and
may have motivated the GOS to show both Muslim and non-Muslim
citizens that Singapore's Muslim religious leaders support
the GOS' approach to counterterrorism and that the Muslim
community is helping police itself. End comment.
FERGIN