By Lee Hui Chieh

WHEN Muhammad Fadil Abdul Hamid was studying in a polytechnic here, he began to surf the Internet avidly for propaganda and videos that called for jihad - a holy war against non-Islamic religions.

Over time, he was swayed by the lectures of radical Muslim clerics, such as American-born Anwar al-Awlaki, who now resides in Yemen; and former boxer Sheikh Feiz Muhammad, who was born to Lebanese parents in Australia.

Fadil became convinced that it was his religious duty to carry out jihad as a militant, and to become a martyr to the cause.

He made contact with Anwar al-Awlaki online, and expressed his desire to join the cleric in armed jihad in places like Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan.

He also contacted online a suspected recruiter of terrorist group Al-Qaeda, who encouraged him to fight in Afghanistan.

To prepare himself for armed jihad overseas, he trawled the Internet for information on bombmaking.

He also produced a video glorifying martyrdom and justifying suicide bombing, which he then posted online.

But before he could act, the authorities here stopped him. On April 4 this year, Fadil, 20, a full-time national serviceman who was undergoing training to become a section leader at Pasir Laba Camp at the time, was detained under the Internal Security Act.

He had enlisted in the Singapore Armed Forces in September last year, after he left school without completing his studies.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said yesterday that Fadil had not carried out jihad- related activities in Singapore, and had no plans to do so.