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Al-Qaida and Jemaah Islamiyah planned to bomb the embassies of the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Israel in Singapore and several other targets in Singapore.
The plan
On 7 October, 2001, a 30-year old Indonesian using a false Filipino passport and a Kuwaiti on a false Canadian passport were sent to Singapore to activate a sleeper cell.
According to the Singaporean government, at least eight of sleeper cell members were trained in Afghanistan, and none of them went to the local mosque or even made contact with any local Islamic organizations.
The two men that came, Fathur Rahman al-Ghozi, known as Mike, and a man known as Sammy, were taken to videotape the U.S. and Australian embassies.
Philippine authorities said that Al-Ghozi had three Philippine passports and an Indonesian passport.
The cell members then set off to find 21 tons of explosives, along with trucks and chemicals.
How it failed
After September 11, an informant told the Singaporean Internal Security Department about Muhammad Aslam Yar Ali Khan, a Singaporean of Pakistani descent who was a member of a group partnered with Al-Qaida. He was placed under surveillance, and he left for Pakistan on October 4. The man was captured by Northern Alliance officials. His interrogation led investigators to the Singapore cell.
The arrests of 13 people began in December 9. Soon after that, a video found in an abandoned house in Kabul, Afghanistan showed a narrator in Singapore that was describing about how bombs could be hidden to attack Americans. Investigators found similar tapes at the residences of the arrested men.
In all, 33 men were arrested in relation to this plot.
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