Thailand arrests suspected Singaporean terrorist

Authorities in Thailand have arrested a senior member of Jemaah Islamiyah, the Islamic terrorist group that is linked to al-Qaida and was blamed for the Bali nightclub bombings.

Arifin bin Ali, a 42-year-old Singaporean also known as John Wong Ah Hung, was arrested in Bangkok and turned over to Singaporean officials.

Three Thai Muslims who were also arrested were reportedly planning attacks against foreign embassies and tourist resorts including Pattaya and Phuket.

Officials said Arifin was an military instructor for Jemaah Islamiyah, and that he trained at a camp at Mindanao in the southern Philippines run by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, an Islamic separatist group.

He fled to Malaysia in December 2001 when the government began a crackdown on Jemaah Islamiyah that lead to the arrest of 31 suspected terrorists, the Singaporean officials said.

Arifin is being held under Singapore’s Internal Security Act, which allows indefinite detention without trial, they said.