TERRORISM: ARREST OF JEMAAH ISLAMIYAH LEADER 'ONLY SYMBOLIC'

AKI ^ | 6/11/07

[Valin]

Jakarta, 11 June (AKI) - If it is confirmed, the arrest of one of Indonesia's most wanted terrorists and alleged leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah terror group, Abu Dujana, is only symbolic and will not really change the current objectives of the group, said Ken Conboy, a regional terrorism expert in an interview with Adnkronos International (AKI). "In the last few years, JI has switched its focus and it is now much more interested in recruiting and rebuilding, rather than bombing," said Conboy who is also the author of "The Second Front: Inside Asia’s Most Dangerous Terrorist Network", a book that traces the history of JI.

"Abu Dujana’s arrest would be important symbolically but would not change much of what are JI’s short to middle terms plans," he told AKI.

Conboy, who admitted that in any case the danger of attacks has not diminished, stressed that the operations by the Indonesian security forces and those of neighbouring countries, have in practice brought JI back to a situation that is comparable to 1998.

"In 1998 JI was building its structure," said Conboy. "Now, after the arrests of the last few years, it is basically back at the stage and it is trying to rebuild. However, this does not mean that they would not bomb if they had the opportunity," he said.

According to information released by Indonesia's anti-terror team, Detachment 88, a group of alleged JI members were arrested over the weekend in Central Java. Among those captured are, Mahfud, alias Yusron, who is also Abu Dujana's right hand man.

The Japanese daily Kyodo News quoted a policeman as saying that Abu Dujana was also among those arrested. However this report has not been confirmed or denied.

Abu Dujana is considered to be one of the operative leaders of Jemaah Islamiyah, the terrorist group that is fighting to make Southeast Asia an Islamic caliphate.

The Jemaah Islamiyah has been blamed for a number of deadly attacks in Indonesia including the 2002 Bali bombings in which 202 people were killed and another attack on the island of Bali in 2005 in which 23 people were killed.

[Valin]

TERRORISM: SINGAPORE ARRESTS DON’T SIGNAL JEMAAH ISLAMIYAH RETURN, ANALYST

http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.424282250&par=0

Jakarta, 11 June (AKI) - The confirmation that four alleged members of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terrorist group were arrested in Singapore over the past few months, does not mean that the group is trying to return to the city state, said Sidney Jones, director of the Southeast Asia section of the International Crisis Group. “In practical terms JI’s Singapore cell was wiped out years ago and I do not believe the group is trying to rebuild there right now,” Jones told Adnkronos International (AKI) in an interview.

“JI is much weaker than before and at the moment its efforts are concentrated in rebuilding in Indonesia,” said Jones.

“What could have happened is that the Singaporean government arrested some elements that were still around although not operative,” she added.

The government of Singapore said over the weekend that it had arrested five alleged terrorists between November 2006 and April 2007. The five are part of a group of 30 people who have been detained under the country’s anti-terrorism laws that allow for the prisoners to be detained for an indefinite period without trial.

According to reports, four of those arrested are alleged members of JI while one of them, Abdul Basheer Abdul Kader, was according to the local media, “radicalised” while reading Islamic websites on the Internet and was trying to join the mujahadeen in Afghanistan. Kader was a law professor in a local school.

Among the alleged members of JI are also Ishak Mohamed Noohu, believed to be a senior members of the Singapore cell of JI, which was destroyed in a police operation following the first of the Bali bombings in 2002.

In Indonesia, where JI has its roots and continues to be active, the group is accused of the two Bali bombings in 2002 and 2005 and of other attacks in th capital Jakarta such as 2003 attack on the Marriott Hotel and the 2004 attack on the Australian embassy. These attacks have led to the deaths of more than 250 people.