100 turn up at funeral of suspected JI militant

From Asia One News (Dec 21): 100 turn up at funeral of suspected JI militant

PONTIAN - The family of suspected Jemaah Islamiyah militant Mohd Noor Fikrie Abd Kahar who was shot dead in the Philippines cannot accept that he was an extremist. According to Mohd Noor Fikrie's brother Mohd Noor Hafiz, 24, his brother was a soft spoken man who cared for his three young children and was always ready with a smile. "I still cannot believe that he was part of a militant group as it was not like him to hold grudges against anyone," he said at the burial ceremony of Mohd Noor Fikrie at Tanah Wakaf Perkuburan Islam Kampung Parit Hj Abdul Rahman in Benut here.

Some 100 people, mostly Mohd Noor Fikrie's relatives and close friends, attended the funeral despite a slight rain on early Thursday morning. Mohd Noor Fikrie's body arrived at Masjid Jamek Temenggong Daeng Abdul Rahman at 5.30am from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) after arriving from the Philippines at 1am on the same day. Among the family members who attended the ceremony was his former wife Siti Sarah Raihana with their three young children Aina Sofia, six, Aisah Nadiya, five, and Yani Izzati, four.

The 26-year-old was shot dead by Davao police last Friday night after they received intelligence that he had a bomb and was planning a terrorist attack. Mohd Noor Fikrie and his Filipina Muslim convert wife, Annabella Nieva Lee, checked out of the Sampaguita Hotel when they were cornered by local police. He tried to flee with a backpack containing a bomb and a mobile detonation device, which he threatened to set off if the police made any move to arrest him but he was shot dead by police while his wife was arrested and is currently being detained.

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