Singapore extends condolences to family of beheaded Frenchman

SINGAPORE - As one of the co-sponsors of the UN Security Council latest resolution aimed at stemming the flow of foreign militants to Iraq and Syria, Singapore believes that foreign terrorists pose a threat to international peace.

A Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) spokesperson said this in response to the unanimous adoption of the resolution, and welcomed the move to combat terrorism, "including the implementation of the United Nations Global Counter-terrorism strategy and all Security Council resolutions related to counter-terrorism."

According to a Reuters report, more than 200 fighters have joined Islamic State in Syria's northern Aleppo province since the US commenced its airstrikes against the militant group.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which gathers information on the conflict, said that at least 162 people joined the radical al Qaeda offshoot in northeast and eastern Aleppo in the week after US President Barack Obama's speech on Sept. 10.

On Thursday, three Malaysians, who were about to board a flight to Turkey to join the fight in Syria, were detained by Malaysian authorities.

"The violent campaigns by terrorist groups against innocent civilians are not confined just to Iraq and Syria.

"The latest horrific murder of a French tourist in Algeria is a case in point," the MFA spokesperson said.

Frenchman Herve Gourdel was abducted by jihadists in Algeria from the IS-linked Algerian group Jund al-Khilifa on Sunday (Sept 21), and subsequently beheaded him on Wednesday (Sept 24).

"We extend our condolences to all who have suffered or lost loved ones, including the friends and family of French national Herve Gourdel," the MFA spokesperson added.

grongloh@sph.com.sg