Englishman used his militant ties to wed 12 women

Englishman Robert Andrew Scott, who claimed to have fought with militant groups in Bosnia, lured 12 women into marrying him. Five of them were said to be Malaysians, Berita Harian reported.

Using the Muslim name Jamaluddin Mustafa, the 43-year-old, married women of several nationalities, including those from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Indonesia, France, Morocco, Germany and Britain. He recently divorced two of his Malaysian wives.

Special Branch (Operations/Counter Terrorism division) assistant director-general Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said most of the women targeted by Scott were professionals such as bank officers and university lecturers. He said reports suggested that he was once involved in a tariqat (missionary) movement in London and joined a mujahiddin (freedom fighters) group in Bosnia.

He was said to have been held for the murder of a doctor in Bosnia but his family successfully filed an application for his release.

Ayob Khan said while Scott had been involved in militant work in Bosnia, he had not shown such tendencies while in Malaysia.

“We are monitoring his marriages and what his real motives are,” said Ayob Khan, relating incidents of Scott deserting his wives and taking their money.

> With longer daylight hours during summer, Muslims in the northern hemisphere observe the Ramadan fast for up to 19 hours a day, Kosmo! reported.

On the other hand, in the southern part of the globe, such as in Australia where it is now winter and the nights are longer, Muslims fast for only about 10 hours a day, the paper said in interviews with Malaysians aboard in its Jurnal section.

Meanwhile, in Sweden, where the summer daylight lasts for about 22 hours a day, fasting from dawn to dusk is indeed a challenge. However, the Islamic authorities used their discretion to allow Muslims to break their fast before the sun sets.

In Melbourne, couple Muhammad Fuad Salim, 29, and Nadia Mohd Yatim, 28, observing their first fast in Australia, said while they enjoy the shorter hours, they missed the festive air of Ramadan back home during this time of the year.

?  Found in Translation is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with this ' >'sign, it denotes a separate news item.