A 48-year-old Singaporean man has been detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) since March last year for being “actively” involved in the civil war in Yemen, the Internal Security Department (ISD) said on Wednesday (Dec 9). 

Sheik Heikel Khalid Bafana, who was in Yemen from 2008 to 2019, had volunteered to take up arms and also worked as a paid agent for a “foreign power” by collecting intelligence on Yemen, ISD said.

He was arrested under the ISA after he returned to Singapore on Feb 5 last year.

“Heikel’s case was not disclosed earlier because investigations into his activities in Yemen were complex, and earlier disclosure would have jeopardised ongoing investigations,” said ISD.

The announcement comes two weeks after authorities said that Ahmad Faysal, a 26-year-old Bangladeshi who worked in Singapore, was arrested under the ISA on Nov 2 for terrorism-related activities.

As part of Singapore’s heightened security posture following terrorist attacks in Europe and elsewhere, the Ministry of Home Affairs said last month that it started investigations against 37 people for suspected radical inclinations, or for making comments which incited violence or stoked communal unrest.

HEIKEL PAID “SUBSTANTIAL” AMOUNTS AS FOREIGN AGENT

Heikel and his family migrated to Yemen around 2008 where he ran a consultancy that advised foreign companies on security risks and business opportunities, ISD said.

“While there, he assisted one of the factions in the civil war, and volunteered to take up arms and fight alongside this faction,” it added.

“He also acted as a broker between this faction and the foreign power, in an effort to secure military equipment, supplies and funds to conduct military training.”

The civil war is between the Iran-aligned Houthi movement and the Saudi Arabia-backed Yemeni government. It has killed 100,000 people in what the United Nations described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Separately from around 2012 to 2018, Heikel collected intelligence on Yemen for the foreign power, for which he was paid “substantial amounts”, ISD said, adding that his dealings with the foreign power were “clandestine” in nature.

After 2011, as the security situation in Yemen deteriorated and Singaporeans were evacuated, Heikel stayed on, ISD said.

He was arrested after returning to Singapore with his family in February last year. “His family members have not been implicated in his activities in Yemen,” ISD added.

ISD did not provide a photo of Heikel. 

It said it is publicising the case now to underline Singapore’s “stern stand” against anyone who supports, promotes, undertakes or makes preparations to undertake armed violence.

“Regardless of how they rationalise such violence ideologically, or where the violence takes place, such a person has demonstrated a dangerous tendency to support the use of violence,” it added. 

Heikel compounded this by serving the interests of a foreign power for financial gain, ISD said.

“By involving himself in a foreign armed conflict and working as a paid agent of a foreign power, Heikel has acted in a manner prejudicial to Singapore’s security and interests,” it added.

ISD also gave an update on Faysal, the Bangladeshi who was arrested in November, saying that has been issued with a detention order under the ISA to facilitate ongoing investigations into his terrorism-related activities.