MALAYSIANS KINI Being imprisoned for a crime you did not commit.

Even the most patient of people, if subjected to such injustice, would cry out indignantly.

But not colonel Abdul Manaf Kasmuri, who laughed when pressed about how he spent more than three years of his life at the infamous Kamunting detention centre.

“There is no bitterness,” he responded simply.

He was detained without trial in 2003 under the now defunct Internal Security Act (ISA), for alleged involvement with terror groups.

During his time in prison, the father of three said the authorities had tried to determine the extent of his involvement in terror groups Jemaah Islamiah and al-Qaeda.

But Abdul Manaf's background tells a story of a peacekeeper, rather than that of a violent terrorist.

After leaving the Malaysian army in the 1990s, Abdul Manaf joined the Bosnian army until the war ended.

During his time with various non-governmental organisations, the 61-year-old kept himself occupied by providing humanitarian aid to displaced people in conflict areas.

When venturing into such areas, Abdul Manaf said he was tasked to establish rapport with local leaders.

“Only after they trusted me could we start bringing in things like medical and relief aid,” he said.

But such a dangerous environment required that they be armed to defend themselves – and this also meant training the displaced people to use weapons for the purpose of self-defence.

“(There is) no use for us to give them food if the next day they are going to be killed,” said Abdul Manaf.

But the training that Abdul Manaf provided was what eventually led to his three-year detention.

“After the September 11 (attacks), there were massive dragnets in which many people were caught.

A majority of them had trained with me. When they were at the Guantanamo (Bay detention centre), they mentioned my name when they were asked where they received had their military training.”

Abdul Manaf said he was only arrested in 2003 as the authorities had nothing against him except for those claims.

This is why he is simply bewildered every time he is accused of being part of al-Qaeda.

“Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden did send his salam (regards) to me. He sent a representative to do so. The representative invited me to visit them but I said no.

“Because I know that once I visit them, I won't come back. So I didn't do it,” he recalled.

Ever smiling when met during the interview at a shopping mall in Subang, those who do not know him would just think that he is just a typical middle-aged man.

With his spectacles, neatly shaved goatee and his hair parted to the side, no one would guess that he was once detained in prison.

This is his story, in his own words:

I HAD NEVER MIXED WITH AL-QAEDA. I wasn’t interested in these people as their intentions were very different. They want to establish some kind of power base. I was against this as it is all about spreading violence for al-Qaeda. I was never involved in this militant group, never. Because for me, it is not a real form of jihad. In Bosnia, when the war ended, everyone returned (to their respective countries). But al-Qaeda and Islamic State (IS) have spread violence everywhere.

I WOULD HAVE BEEN PUT AWAY FOR 21 YEARS IF I HAD COMMITTED EVEN ONE TERRORIST ACT. The Bukit Aman Special Branch told me this. But as I have said, I was not involved, not even once. Even Jemaah Islamiah and al-Qaeda members who had met me said that I wasn’t part of their group. I never went to their camp to receive any doctrinal training from them, never.

I DID NOT OPERATE LIKE HOW AN AL-QAEDA MEMBER WOULD. I never stuck to one place. Al-Qaeda operatives, commanders stay in one place but I’ve been everywhere. Once we were done, we would go to the next area. I have been to Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, the border between Bangladesh and Myanmar, as well as Ambon, Indonesia.

IF I WERE RADICALISED, I WOULDN’T BE LIKE HOW I AM TODAY. Why? Because I have a strong foundation in Islamic studies, I follow a school of thought. I believe what’s written by Imam Shafie about jihad, it is very clear. Jihad is supposed to be pure and that's what I did in Bosnia.

THEY WANTED ME TO JOIN THEM BUT I SAID NO. Met them? Yes, but they did their work, I did mine. I had nothing to do with them. Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden did send his salam (regards) to me. He sent a representative to do so. The representative invited me to visit them but I said no. Because I know that once I visit them, I would not come back. So I didn't do it.

I WOULDN’T BE ALIVE IF I WERE REALLY AN AL-QAEDA OPERATIVE. Frankly speaking, if I were an al-Qaeda operative, do you think I would be sitting down here (and) still be alive? If I was an al-Qaeda member, I would have been killed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) because al-Qaeda are dangerous guys. And with the way I am now (holding firmly to the teachings of the Shafie school of thought), I would have been killed by al-Qaeda.

MY SPIRITUAL LEADER TOLD US NEVER TO GET INVOLVED WITH OSAMA. My spiritual leader, sheikh Anwar Syaaban, was the one who informed everyone in the army to never get involved with Osama. He said that Osama was not a true jihadist and that his fatwa that all Americans were liable for what their government did was not acceptable.

MY FAMILY HAS BEEN TRAINED TO DEAL WITH MY ABSENCE. Even the Special Branch asked why they were so relaxed when I was detained. (Well), when I was in the army, I used to go to the jungles to fight. I would tell my family, 'If I go, it doesn't mean that I will come back; if I come back it would be a bonus'. Went I went to Bosnia, I told them that if I died and we are good Muslims, we would see each other again. I trained them like that all the time.

MY WIFE IS CHINESE, MY LATE MOTHER-IN-LAW WAS CHRISTIAN. Does al-Qaeda have such a family? My mother-in-law, a Chinese! If I'm a terrorist do you think I would deal with this – I would have slaughtered my mother-in-law! My sister-in-law, a Christian lives with us. When my mother-in-law and sister-in-law visited me at Kamunting, everyone asked whether they were my family. What kind of evidence can I show you that I am not a terrorist? I'm a PAS Muslim. I'm not an al-Qaeda Muslim.

MALAYSIANS KINI is a series on Malaysians you should know.

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