Terrorist Yazid Sufaat was freed on Nov. 19 by Malaysia, The Star reported.

His previous terrorist activities included:

• Involved in the 9/11 attacks against the U.S.
• Involved in Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) plot to bomb Singapore.
• Appointed to develop an anthrax bioweapon for Al-Qaeda.

Described as "unrepentant"

He had served two years behind bars under the country's Prevention of Terrorist Act (POTA) at the Simpang Renggam Detention Centre in Johor, and was described as "unrepentant" by The Star.

Abdul Hamid Bador, the Inspector General of police, was quoted on Oct. 23, by BenarNews, as stating:

"This is part and parcel of the law process. He had served his sentence and when the time comes, he will be released. We cannot take away his liberty.

We will continue to engage with him, we will monitor him and he will still go to rehab."

Will be electronically tagged, subject to curfew

Bukit Aman counter-terrorism chief Ayob Khan Pitchay further stated that Yazid will be placed under police surveillance and made to wear an electronic monitoring device (EMD), The Malay Mail reported.

He is not allowed to possess a phone or access the internet.

He will also be placed under a daily curfew, from 8:00pm to 6:00am, although he can still receive visitors at that time.

Yazid is also required to obtain written permission from the police chief of Selangor, should he wish to travel outside his hometown of Ampang.

He will be required to report to the police station twice a week, The Star further reported.

What did he do?

A biochemist who graduated from the University of Sacramento in California, Yazid first joined the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terror group shortly after it was founded in 1993, according to BenarNews.

The 1990s also saw him tasked with loading anthrax onto weapons in Afghanistan for Al-Qaeda.

On Jan. 2000, he hosted meetings with senior Al-Qaeda leaders at his home to discuss terror plans, including the 9/11 attack.

Yazid also provided lodging to two of the 9/11 terrorists, Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi.

The same year also saw him obtain four tonnes of ammonium nitrate to prepare for a series of bombings in Singapore as part of JI, before the plan was foiled.

Yazid then flew to Afghanistan in 2001, where he spent several months attempting to cultivate anthrax at a laboratory he helped to establish near Kandahar airport, under the command of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the current leader of Al-Qaeda.

Arrested and released multiple times

He was subsequently arrested for the first time 2002, under Malaysia's Internal Security Act (ISA) and released in 2008 after undergoing rehabilitation and displaying signs of "remorse" and "repentance", The Star further reported.

He was then detained for a second time in 2013 for recruiting people for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, under Malaysia's replacement of the ISA, the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act.

He was sentenced to a four-year jail sentence, and was re-arrested under POTA, after it was discovered that he had been recruiting people for Al-Qaeda in prison.

Expert says Yazid wishes to stay out of trouble

A counterterrorism expert, Ahmad El-Muhammady, who was interviewed by the South China Morning Post (SCMP), stated that he believed Yazid now wanted to stay out of trouble.

Ahmad said:

"He has been waiting for this moment for so long, reuniting with his family. Personally, I’m so happy to know he has been released.

I believe he will spend time more with his family. I believe he knows the risks of re-engaging in whatever forms of security offences that might put him in harm’s way."

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