The Straits Times
17 April 2015
- RSIS
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- Foreign ISIS fighters ‘Will be a Threat for Decades’
Foreign ISIS fighters ‘Will be a Threat for Decades’
THE large number of foreign fighters taking part in the ongoing conflict in Iraq and Syria will pose an international security threat for decades to come, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean said yesterday.
And, like most countries, Singapore is concerned that these fighters – who number over 20,000 – could carry out attacks when they return home and radicalise others to join their ranks, he said at the opening of an international meeting on the terror threat. “The security threat posed by returnees has already manifested in several incidents,” Mr Teo said, citing the instance of French national Mehdi Nemmouche, who killed four people in Brussels last May after returning from Syria.
Nemmouche had travelled through Singapore on his way home from Syria, he added.
… The two-day East Asia Summit (EAS) Symposium on Religious Rehabilitation and Social Reintegration involves 560 participants from more than 30 countries, including top officials and scholars from Malaysia, Indonesia and the United States.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had announced Singapore’s intention to host the summit when EAS leaders met in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, last November as part of its effort to help find ways to counter ISIS’ influence.
ICPVTR / Online / Print
Last updated on 16/11/2015
