51-year-old Singaporean placed under detention order

A SELF-RADICALISED Singaporean man has been arrested under the Internal Security Act and issued a two-year order of detention, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said on Tuesday.

The man, 51-year-old Mustafa bin Sultan Ali, had tried to join the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group in Syria.

In late-May this year, Mustafa left Singapore and went to a "regional country" to board a flight to Turkey, the ministry said. He had chosen this particular travel route in the hope of "hiding his tracks", according to MHA.

From Turkey, Mustafa had planned to cross into Syria. Instead, he was detained by local authorities in Turkey, and deported to Singapore in June 2015.

"Investigations showed that Mustafa had been deeply radicalised by the terrorist ideology of ISIS and other radical ideologues he had come across online," MHA said in its statement.

"He had travelled to Turkey and tried to make his way to Syria in order to participate in armed violence by fighting alongside ISIS. Mustafa also said that he was prepared to carry out ISIS-directed terrorist attacks against Western establishments in Singapore."

Mustafa's order of detention runs from July 2015.

"The government takes a very serious view of any form of support for terrorism, including but not limited to the use of violence, and will take firm and decisive action against any person who engages in such activities," the ministry said.