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Kuala Lumpur. A Singaporean has been detained in Malaysia under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in connection with terrorist activities in the southern Philippines.  

Businessman Abdul Majid Kunji Mohammad, who lived here, was arrested by police last Friday under the ISA, which allows for indefinite detention without trial, Inspector-General of Police Ismail Omar said in a statement Monday.  

Ismail said in the four-paragraph statement that Abdul Majid was suspected of "channeling funds and providing logistics support to a militant group in southern Philippines."  

He added that there are reasons to believe that Abdul Majid's involvement may jeopardize national security. He did not elaborate on this, nor on the identity of the militant group involved.  

Philippine National Police spokesman Agremero Cruz told The Straits Times that the Philippine authorities had "indirectly" assisted by providing Malaysian counterparts with information on the case, but declined to elaborate.  

Abdul Majid is listed as a director of several companies in Singapore, although records indicate that he has been struck off most of them.  

He was also a director of a Muslim self-help group, the Association of Muslim Professionals, for a year in the early 1990s. His last company in Singapore was registered almost 10 years ago and he is believed to have moved to Malaysia to set up a business soon after that.  

His last-known address in Singapore is listed as a flat in Clementi.  

There are several militant groups in the southern Philippines that are fighting against the government. Among them are the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Abu Sayyaf.  

The region is also a hideout for Jemaah Islamiah (JI) militants on the run.  

Malaysia is assisting the Philippines in brokering peace with the MILF in an effort to end a bloody secessionist war in the mineral-rich region of Mindanao.  

The MILF told Reuters that it had dropped a plan to seek secession after Malaysia threatened to stop facilitating the peace talks.

Reprinted courtesy of Straits Times Indonesia. To subscribe to Straits Times Indonesia and/or the Jakarta Globe call 2553 5055.