S1E2: Terror threat seeds planted in South-east Asia before 9/11 attacks in US: 9/11 Special 20 years on (Pt 2)

Sep 17, 2021

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Synopsis: 2021 marks 20 years since the 9/11 attacks in the United States.

ST's mobile editor Jeremy Au Yong catches up with three newsroom colleagues to bring out the behind-the-scenes revelations of their actual post 9/11 scoops.

ST Indonesia correspondent Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja, has been covering terrorism in Indonesia for decades and has even spoken to some of the leaders of the Al-Qaeda-linked outfit Jemaah Islamiyah.

ST's regional correspondent Leslie Lopez was the man who broke the story about Singapore’s most famous escaped terror suspect. In 2009, Leslie got the scoop that Mas Selamat Kastari had been recaptured.

Mr Melvinderpal Singh, a former deputy editor of The New Paper, was in Afghanistan the week before the US invasion on Oct 7, 2001 - termed Operation Enduring Freedom.

Highlights (click/tap above):

1:27 How 9/11 changed the focus of their careers

8:00 How Wahyudi spoke to Abu Tholut, once Indonesia's most wanted Muslim militant and a senior member of the Al-Qaeda-affiliated terror network in South-east Asia

18:45 Melvin on why terror threat seeds were already planted in South-east Asia way before 9/11 in 2001

22:31 Leslie on his 2002 Wall Street Journal story of Malaysian police arresting suspected members of outlawed Kumpulan Mujahideen Malaysia, an allegedly Al-Qaeda-linked Islamic extremist group, including the wife of a man accused of helping two Sept 11 hijackers

25:44 How Malaysia was a central transit point for many terrorists back then

35:06 How the JI Bali bombers actually took World War 2 explosives from the sea bottom to prepare for the October 2002 attacks in Kuta, Bali

36:20 Leslie on how he arranged the highly exclusive Mas Selamat recapture scoop that involved senior ST editors getting confirmation from reluctant authorities

Listen to Pt 1: 'Enter at your own risk' – Journalists recall post-9/11 assignment in Afghanistan - https://str.sg/wKMj

Pt 3: 9/11's impact on Singapore, local Muslim identity, harmony beyond 2021 - https://str.sg/wKMK

Pt 4: 20 years on, JI detainees speak on their roles in plot to attack Singapore - https://str.sg/wKMr

Produced by: Jeremy Au Yong, Ernest Luis, Bhagyashree Garekar & Fa'izah Sani

Edited by: Fa'izah Sani & Hadyu Rahim

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