Malaysian scientist who ran al-Qaeda’s anthrax lab freed from police monitoring, official says
- Yazid Sufaat, 58, has been allowed to leave the house and use the internet as a ‘free man’ since being removed from surveillance in November 2021
- While there are no signs Malaysians are heading to Afghanistan now the Taliban has regained power, police will continue being ‘one step ahead’, counter-terrorism chief vows
A Malaysian scientist who once allegedly attempted to make weapons of mass destruction for al-Qaeda is now a “changed man”, says the country’s top counterterrorism official, and has been living a regular life since he was released from surveillance in November.
Yazid Sufaat, 58, an al-Qaeda operative who helped to set up a laboratory in Afghanistan to cultivate anthrax, had served a string of jail sentences in Malaysia for terror-related offences.
The US-trained biochemist was released in November 2019 after serving the maximum two-year period under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (Pota). He was placed under police surveillance and required to wear an electronic monitoring device.
Yazid is a changed man now, and we all as members of the society should support him
Normah Ishak, head of the counterterrorism division in the Malaysian police force’s intelligence arm, said Yazid was removed from surveillance on November 21, 2021, and was now a “free man”.
“As such, he has the right to access the internet, including posting on Facebook and other social media pages,” Normah told This Week in Asia. She added that “we are in touch with him and remain friends.”
During the supervision order, Yazid was barred from going online, but was allowed to use the phone. He was also not allowed to leave his house between 8pm and 6am, although he could receive visitors.
Normah said Yazid now led a “normal life”, spending time with his family, working on his business, and getting involved with charitable activities.