YAZID Sufaat, linked to the September 11, 2001 terror attacks in the United States and a recruiter for al-Qaeda, has abandoned his extremist principles and hardcore ideologies, said his rehabilitator Dr Ahmed El Muhammady.

Ahmed is an academic at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) and one of the facilitators appointed by the government to rehabilitate convicted militants in the country.

He has met Yazid on numerous occasions and also testified in the militant’s case in court.

Ahmed told The Malaysian Insight that Yazid, who took part in discussions on the plot to bring down the World Trade Centre in New York in 2001,  knows the consequences if he returns to his old habits.

“I’m optimistic he has abandoned things of the past. He wants to be with his family and spend time with them.

“He knows the risks of re-engaging in whatever forms of security offences,” said Ahmed.

Yazid was released from the Simpang Renggam detention centre on Wednesday after spending two years behind bars for recruiting fellow inmates to join al-Qaeda.

Yazid, 55, has been placed under house arrest following the release and banned from using the internet and will have to wear a tracking device.

He was one of al-Qaeda’s trusted lieutenants and a firm believer in killing non-Muslims.

His release caused a firestorm in social media with many questioning if the hardcore militant had really repented.

They accused Putrajaya of releasing a recalcitrant terrorist into the public domain, pointing out that on each occasion after his previous releases, he went back into active mode and recruited more terror suspects.

Announcing Yazid’s impending release last month, Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador said the militant will be released in accordance with the law, after serving his two-year sentence.

Ahmed, meanwhile, described Yazid, as a loving family man.

“As a person, he is a very loving father and has a good sense of humour. He loves his daughters dearly,” Ahmed said.

“I have met him many times. In prison, of course, and also in court, where I testified in his case.”

Yazid is married to Chomel Mohamad, an Indonesian, and they have four daughters.

Both once worked as caterers at the Kuala Lumpur Court Complex canteen.

Chomel is now handling her own hawker stall in Jalan Kg Attap – a walking distance from the city centre.

The Johor-born militant was a hardcore terrorist and sought by Singapore after police there found four tonnes of ammonium nitrate. Investigations later revealed that Yazid was planning a bomb attack in Singapore.

A graduate from the US in biochemistry, Yazid is the sole Malaysian linked to the 9/11 terror attacks.

In the 9/11 commission final report released in July 2004, it was said that Yazid met four key al-Qaeda members at his home in Kuala Lumpur prior to the attack in New York where they “spoke about the possibility of hijacking planes and crashing them”.

Two of the four men – Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf Muhammad Salim al-Hazmi – were among the hijackers.

Yazid was first arrested in 2001 at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) after arriving from Pakistan. He was detained under the now defunct Internal Security Act until 2008.

In 2013, he was apprehended under the Security Offenses (Special Measures) Act on charges of recruiting new members for the Islamic State militant group. He received a four-year prison term.

In all, Yazid has been detained three times for terror-linked activities and has spent 17 years behind bars in his 20-year career as a jihadist.

Before becoming active in terrorism, Yazid was an army captain and once served in Bosnia where he developed sympathy towards the Muslims killed by the Serbian army. – November 22, 2019.