SINGAPORE: As an 18-year-old, Khalid’s (not his real name) search for religious identity brought him to platforms like YouTube, where he was drawn to the sermons of charismatic, fundamentalist preachers such as Anwar Al-Awlaki and Feiz Mohammad.
A polytechnic student who suddenly had his own laptop and “unlimited internet access”, he consumed copious amounts of jihadist propaganda online and even made contact with Al-Awlaki, a radical American-born cleric linked to Al-Qaeda.
Recounting his radicalisation journey in an interview with The Straits Times, Khalid said the Gaza war in 2008 and 2009 cemented his belief that Muslims had to take up arms to defend other oppressed Muslims, and that he would be rewarded in the afterlife if he was martyred.
One day, he was contacted o
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