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INDONESIA, THE UNSTEADY GIANT by Srdja Trifkovic On September 2 an Indonesian court acquitted a Muslim cleric of heading the Jemaah Islamiyah, a terrorist group associated with al-Qaeda, and plotting to overthrow the government. In a surprise verdict certain to raise doubts about Indonesia’s willingness to fight terrorism, the court sentenced Abu Bakar Bashir to four years in prison on a far lesser charge of “having knowledge of a plot to overthrow the Indonesian government” and violating immigration laws. In his evasive and occasionally jumbled ruling the presiding judge, Muhammad Saleh, declared that “the acts of treason were proven” but...

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - A court on Indonesia's Sulawesi island Thursday sentenced to seven years in jail a Muslim militant convicted of involvement in the bombing of a McDonald's restaurant that killed three people. Also on Thursday, a Muslim preacher who faces the death sentence for his alleged role in last year's Bali bombings said he was "small fry'' compared to "big terrorists'' like Adolf Hitler, U.S. President George W. Bush and the leaders of Britain and Israel. Prosecutors in the Bali case say Ali Ghufron, 43, had "general responsibility'' for planning, funding and carrying out the Oct. 12 attack...

Indonesian VP: United States Is 'Terrorist King'Wed September 3, 2003 08:54 AM ET JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian Vice President Hamzah Haz branded America the "terrorist king" Wednesday in remarks at odds with Jakarta's support for the war on terror. "Actually, who is the terrorist, who is against human rights? The answer is the United States because they attacked Iraq. Moreover, it is the terrorist king, waging war," the official Antara news agency quoted Haz as saying. It was unclear what prompted Haz to make his remarks in a speech to heads of Muslim boarding schools in Central Java. The...

<p>On Tuesday, an Indonesian court sentenced Jemaah Islamiya leader Abu Bakar Bashir to four years in prison. The verdict is both good and bad news. The positive side is that a dangerous man responsible for spreading jihad against the West will be taken off the streets and kept from preaching in mosques for a little while. The hitch is that he was found guilty of treason for trying to overthrow the government in Jakarta, not of being the mastermind behind Southeast Asia's most active al Qaeda affiliate. The court's split decision reflects Indonesia's split personality regarding terrorism.</p>

In Indonesia, where an election is looming, people only take on enemies they know they can beat, writes Greg Barton. How much should we read into Tuesday's unexpectedly lenient sentence for the Jemaah Islamiah leader, Abu Bakar Bashir? It would be nice to believe that the verdict and four-year sentence on Bashir have no particular meaning beyond reminding us of the uncertainty that accompanies any legal proceeding. Few who have followed the case, however, whether here or in Indonesia, are going to read it that way. For Bashir's supporters and fellow travellers the verdict is a vindication of not only...

JAKARTA, Indonesia - A court sentenced Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir on Tuesday to four years in prison for sedition, but threw out charges that he belonged to al-Qaida's main Asian ally - even though some of Southeast Asia's top terror suspects have named him as the group's spiritual leader. The trial was seen as a key test of Indonesia's commitment to confronting Islamic militancy, and the mixed result and lenient sentence was a blow to Indonesia's efforts to combat terrorism. Judges said there was insufficient evidence that the ailing, soft-spoken 65-year-old preacher is the top power behind - or...

Sept. 2 — JAKARTA (Reuters) - An Indonesian court jailed Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir for four years on treason charges Tuesday, but said there was not enough evidence to prove he led the radical Jemaah Islamiah network blamed for bombings in Southeast Asia. The sentence was less than the 15 years demanded by the prosecution in the case, which has been widely seen as a test of the willingness of the world's most populous Muslim nation to crack down on radical Islam. The 65-year-old preacher and educator, who rejected all charges against him and earlier denounced the prosecutors as...

The Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia Sept. 2 — A court on Tuesday acquitted a Muslim cleric accused of heading an al-Qaida-linked Asian terror group and plotting to overthrow the government, giving a surprise verdict in a case seen as a test of Indonesia's willingness to fight terror. The ruling was greeted by joyous cheers from hundreds of supporters of Abu Bakar Bashir, who was alleged to be the spiritual leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah, a terror network blamed for a string of bombings in Indonesia and the Philippines. "There is not enough evidence to prove that the defendant ... led...

LEGASPI—Communist guerrillas on Friday killed a policeman and five other people in an ambush on the central island of Masbate, police said. New People’s Army (NPA) rebels detonated a landmine and opened fire with assault rifles on a mini-bus on the road near the town of Baleno, killing six passengers and wounding two others, said regional police spokesman Supt. Benjamin Suratos. The dead included a policeman, three members of a government militia force helping the army fight the NPA, and two civilians, Suratos told reporters. Reports sent to Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City said the fatalities...

TERRORIST group Jemaah Islamiyah has drawn up plans for a suicide bombing campaign designed to transform Asia and the Pacific region into Islamic provinces. Alleged spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiah, Abu Bakar Bashir / AP The scheme is revealed in a 40-page manifesto - the Pupji book or General Guide to the Struggle of JI - which also shows that Jemaah Islamiyah is a well-formed organisation with a constitution, rules of operation, and leadership structure. The book refers to "love of Jihad in the path of God and love of dying as a martyr" as one of the group's 10...

Its chilling contents are a handbook for death, mayhem and world domination. The Herald has obtained a copy of the secret Jemaah Islamiah manual, General Guide to the Struggle, which instructs how to wage war against infidels and spread JI's brand of Islam to "the four corners of the Earth". It lists "love of jihad (holy war) in the path of God and love of dying as a martyr" as fundamental JI tenets. Enemies are "satanic demons and satanic humans". The manual, known in Indonesia by its acronym PUPJI (Pedoman Umum Perjuangan Jemaah Islamiah), contains a constitution, outlines the roles...

When people talk about the root causes of terrorism, I think about Sue Malony and Donna Croxford, two victims of a terrorist attack in Bali, Indonesia, on October 12, 2002 that killed 202 people including 88 Australians. Sue and Donna lived in Elwood and Port Melbourne respectively, suburbs in my constituency in Melbourne, where I serve as a federal member of parliament. Sue and Donna were killed whilst enjoying a holiday in Bali, and now Donna leaves behind a disabled four-year-old. As justification for their murderous acts in Bali, two of the known perpetrators, Amrozi bin Nurhasyim and Imam Samudra,...

Early this year, amidst military preparations for a war in Iraq, the United States announced it was sending 3,000 soldiers to Mindanao, the southernmost region of the Philippines. FRONTLINE/World correspondent Orlando de Guzman, a Filipino reporter from the north, journeyed to Mindanao, where Muslim rebels are fighting a guerrilla war against the Philippine government -- a war in which the United States may soon be embroiled. read more A Conflicted Land: Rebellions, Wars and Insurgencies in the Philippines For more than a hundred years, the United States has confronted insurgencies in this archipelago nation of 7,100 islands. From the...

Bali bomber thanks anti-war protesters By Cindy Wockner in Denpasar August 27, 2003 THE man who helped mix the deadly one-tonne Bali nightclub bomb Sawad, alias Sardjiyo, yesterday said he wanted to thank the Australian people who had supported his cause during recent Australian anti-Gulf War protests. And fellow bomb-mixer Abdul Ghoni urged Australians against forming friendly alliances with America. The pronouncements of the two Bali bombing suspects came as they and the evidence against them was handed from Bali police to prosecutors. "I want to thank the Australian people who supported our cause when they demonstrated against the policies...

The Jemaah Islamiah (JI) terrorist group may be damaged but "remains active and dangerous", according to a new research report. The International Crisis Group (ICG) report warns JI is likely to mount more attacks despite the arrest of leading operative Hambali. The ICG says no one member of JI is indispensable and the network probably has thousands of members in Indonesia where it is based. Along with Hambali, who was detained in Thailand this month and is in US custody, more than 200 JI suspects are in custody in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore. However, the August 5 bombing...

PAGADIAN -- Armed men believed to be communist rebels seized a commuter bus and briefly held its passengers before setting it on fire in northwestern Mindanao, police said Tuesday. Twenty suspected New People's Army (NPA) guerrillas on Monday flagged down the vehicle near the town of Tigbao in the Zamboanga peninsula, Provincial Police Director Godofredo de los Santos said. The passengers were let off unharmed before the gunmen torched the bus, he said. The motive for the attack could be extortion, de los Santos said, noting that the owner of the bus has been receiving demands from the NPA to...

REGIONAL terror network Jemaah Islamiah operates using an extended family structure and remains capable of deadly bomb attacks despite the arrests of several of its key leaders, a new report claims. Dangerous and experienced leaders remain at large and others have yet to be identified, let alone apprehended, according to the International Crisis Group study. Thousands strong, and spread across the vast archipelago of Indonesia, JI continues to threaten Westerners and Western interests. Pessimistic about future prospects in Indonesia, the report, titled Jemaah Islamiah in Southeast Asia: Damaged but Still Dangerous, warns bluntly: "In the short term, we are likely...

Dhaka, 23 August: Police in Bangladesh hunting for suspected Islamic militants unearthed a huge cache of bomb-making chemical explosives from a Moslem family graveyard in the north of the country, dpa quoted local officials as saying Saturday [23 August]. The explosive materials were found in plastic bags along with 55 home-made grenades buried in the private cemetery of the fugitive chief of the Jamiatul Mojahedin Islamic militant group allegedly operating a local terror network. Police stumbled into the deadly chemicals in the northern Joypurhat District as two more Islamic militants were arrested during an overnight operation by security forces in...

Thai police have arrested five suspected terrorists including three Pakistanis and two Burmese nationals in the northern province of Chiang Mai, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has said. "They were arrested because their suspicious behaviour indicated they may have links with terrorists," Mr Thaksin said in his weekly radio address. "Initially they were arrested on immigration charges, we must question them before we can decide whether they are terrorists or not," he said. Thailand has been on alert since the capture of alleged terrorist mastermind Hambali in the central city of Ayutthaya two weeks ago. Although Mr Thaksin said at the...

AUG 22, 2003 Hambali's plan was to hit US, Aussie embassies: Thaksin BANGKOK -- Thailand on Friday confirmed that before his arrest, Asian terrorist mastermind suspect Hambali had been plotting attacks on the embassies of the United States, Australia and Israel in Bangkok. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said Hambali, who was nabbed on Aug 11 in the central city of Ayutthaya, was targeting the embassies rather than an upcoming Asia-Pacific leaders' summit, as earlier believed. Mr Thaksin confirmed a report on Thursday in The Australian newspaper, which quoted two of Hambali's interrogators, who are Asians, as saying that he had...

<p>BALI, Indonesia &#8212; The youngest of three Indonesian brothers being tried for last year's deadly blasts on the tourist island of Bali begged for forgiveness yesterday, telling a court that the attack was wrong and besmirched Islam.</p> <p>Though Ali Imron faces charges of plotting and organizing terror crimes similar to those of his older siblings, he has repeatedly shown remorse during the trial rather than the pride and defiance of his brothers.</p>

Abu Bakar Bashir, the Indonesian Muslim cleric accused of leading the terrorist group blamed for the Bali bombings, broke down in tears yesterday and warned judges at his treason trial that they would "go to hell" if they convicted him.   Abu Bakar Bashir delivers his defence statement In scenes that stunned onlookers he told prosecutors to repent for assisting "the infidel enemies of Islam".In a defence statement brimming with defiance and devoid of any remorse for victims of bombings across Indonesia, he said his trial was stage-managed by the "terrorist state of America".He accused "hypocrite" states such as the...

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - A radical Islamic cleric accused of heading an al-Qaida-linked terror network in Asia wept in court Thursday as he accused the Indonesian government of framing him on charges of treason and plotting to assassinate its president. With tears in his eyes, Abu Bakar Bashir denied any wrongdoing and said authorities in neighboring Singapore and Malaysia had tortured witnesses to testify against him. The 64-year-old cleric Thursday was responding to a prosecution request that he be jailed for a maximum 15 years. Bashir is considered the spiritual head of Jemaah Islamiyah, which is blamed for a string...

Chance provided key to finding Hambali By Kathy Marks in Sydney 22 August 2003 The chance discovery of a key in the pocket of a close aide led police to Hambali, one of the world's most wanted terrorists, according to Thai media reports yesterday. The Nation newspaper said Thai authorities had not been looking for Hambali, the senior al-Qa'ida figure in South-east Asia and alleged mastermind of numerous bomb attacks in the region. They found him by accident after arresting a Malaysian man suspected of being an al-Qa'ida associate or sympathiser. That man was a "small potato", according to security...

One of the accused Bali bombers says the Kuta attacks were originally intended to take place on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the United States. Ali Imron says the alleged plot leader, Imam Samudra, said at a planning meeting in Solo that he wanted the attack to take place on September 11, to mark the New York and Washington attacks a year earlier. The reason the bombing occurred on October 12 instead was because that was when the bombs were ready, Ali Imron told the court. He said that fellow suspects Dul Martin and Idris had returned...

STA. CRUZ, Laguna (philippines)— Only three months since a radio announcer was gunned down in Lucena City, another hard-hitting newsman was silenced by an assassin’s bullet here on Tuesday night. Noel Villarante, 32, columnist of Laguna Score, a community paper here, and a broadcaster of local radio station dzJV, was gunned down in front of his house at about 6:45 p.m. Chief Inspector Josemarte Paras, Sta. Cruz police chief, said Villarante could have survived the attack if the gunman had not returned to finish him off. Villarante was first shot in the chest as he emerged from his house in...

CAPTURED Jemaah Islamiah leader Hambali has told his interrogators he was in Thailand working on a plot to attack the Australian embassy in Bangkok, The Australian has learnt. Since his arrest in Thailand last week, Asia's most successful terrorist has denied reports he was planning to attack the coming APEC leaders' meeting in October, but has said he was instead planning to bomb Bangkok embassies. The information, revealed to The Australian by an Asian intelligence officer who has interviewed Hambali since his arrest, demonstrates that Australia and Australians are clearly in JI's sights. "He told us he is looking at...

HUALIEN CITY, Taiwan — Conjoined twins from a poor barangay in Pasil town in Kalinga province were successfully separated at the Tzu Chi Medical Center here by a team of prominent doctors. Conjoined at the upper abdomen and chest, one-year-old Lea and Rachel Awel seemed fated to live under each other’s shadow for the rest of their lives. But thanks to the Tzu Chi Foundation, which shouldered the cost of the operation, the girls now have a chance to live separate and normal lives. The operation, which was undertaken by 60 doctors, nurses and other medical staff headed by...

Jakarta: Hambali is known to have sent funds totalling 45,000 US dollars to "bomb" Indonesia through a Malaysian national given the alias Li-Li. It is now being analysed to find out if this money was used for the Marriott bombing. This was announced by Indonesia's senior detective Commissioner General Erwin Mappasang at a press conference in Jakarta police headquarters today (Tuesday 19 August). "The police are still investigating whether or not Hambali played a role in the Marriott bombing because it is certainly known that a Malaysian citizen arrested in Thailand under the alias Li-Li was sent 45,000 US dollars...

An operative of the militant Islamic group Jemaah Islamiah (JI) has warned of an escalation of attacks against western targets in South-East Asia. A JI member, calling himself Bobby Mahmud, told the ABC's Foreign Correspondent program that the recent arrests of senior JI members has not affected the resolve of its operatives. "We are here in the Philippines [as] armed Muslim fighters," he said. "We belong to the group Rabitatul Mujahideen, the armed group of Jemaah Islamiah and our intention is to establish an Islamic nation in South-East Asia." The program focuses on training camps in the southern Philippines and...

Indonesian police say a Malaysian bombmaker was responsible for both the Bali bombings last year and the hotel bombing in Jakarta earlier this month. Indonesia's chief of detectives says Azahari bin Husin - who was educated in Australia - is one of a group of 16 who were involved in the latest attack on the Marriott hotel. Many of those involved are already in custody. Dr Azahari is still at large, along with another Bali bomb suspect named in connection to the Marriott attack, fellow Malaysian Noordin Mohammed Top. Two others already under arrest in connection with the Bali plot...

Title : Visiting military officials stress China's friendly ties with N Korea By : Date : 19 August 2003 0853 hrs (SST) URL : http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/eastasia/view/47079/1/.html A high level Chinese military delegation in Pyongyang stressed their government's friendly ties in talks with North Korea on Monday. According to the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), China's Colonel General Xu Caihou met Vice Marshal Jo Myong Rok, second only to Kim Jong-Il in rank, for unspecified talks. Mr Xu recalled previous exchanges of visits by the leaders of the countries and stressed "the firm will of China and (North) Korea to...

Some 60 suspected New People's Army (NPA) rebels attacked the Philippine Navy headquarters in Barangay Ungos, Real, Quezon on Tuesday, killing two people and injuring five others. Senior Supt. Federico Terti, Real police chief, said the rebels came around 11 a.m., onboard a motorized banca while others used a jeep and a van. Killed in the firefight were Coast Guard Petit Officer Jovit Denamarca and an unidentified sailor. Five others were injured including a policeman, two navy men and two Coast Guard personnel. Terti said the rebels seized an M60 machine gun and rifles before leaving onboard two motorized bancas...

<p>Last week's arrest of Jemaah Islamiya leader Riduan Isamuddin &#8212; alias Hambali &#8212; was a major blow to the international terrorist network. Because the blackout that hit 50 million occurred the same afternoon as the arrest announcement and inevitably dominated media coverage for a couple of days, the public may not be aware how important it is that this man was picked up. A dangerous terrorist was taken off the streets, and, more significantly, the bust reveals that the dragnet set up to catch Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants is catching those in al Qaeda's highest ranks.</p>

BEIJING, Aug. 15 -- Fearing chaos on its borders, China has come to a new realization about the risk of nuclear weapons and war on the Korean Peninsula and launched its most significant diplomatic offensive in years to find a peaceful solution to the standoff, Chinese analysts and government officials said. Since July, Chinese diplomats have been crisscrossing the globe in an attempt to secure a new meeting between officials from the United States and North Korea. That activity bore fruit on Thursday with the announcement that talks would be held Aug. 27-29 in Beijing among North Korea, China, the...

Communist guerrillas gunned down a deputy provincial police chief and one other officer in the eastern Philippines island of Catanduanes at the weekend, police said Monday. Chief Inspector Loreto Tablizo, the deputy police chief of Catanduanes province, was shot dead in the provincial capital Virac on Sunday by eight suspected New People's Army (NPA) guerrillas as he stepped out of a cockfighting arena, a police report said. A woman was wounded in the ambush. A police officer was also killed in a suspected NPA ambush near the town of Caramoran on Saturday, the report said. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo announced last...

August 17, 2003: A boatload of Abu Sayyaf attacked a fishing boat in the south, but navy guards on board fired back, killing four of the rebels. The government received a tip that the rebels were planning attacks on large fishing boats and arranged for armed sailors to go out with these vessels. August 14, 2003: Abu Sayyaf planted two bombs in an army base in the south. One went off wounding six soldiers, but the other was found and disarmed. In the north, troops killed three NPA rebels. August 13, 2003: The NPA rebels have agreed to start peace...

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) cried foul yesterday over a report that at least five of the urinals it installed in Muntinlupa City have been vandalized allegedly by city hall employees. "There should be total appreciation (by the local government units) of what we are doing. I mean, the urinals are not about politics. It is giving men the service that they need when they have to answer the call of nature," MMDA General Manager Robert Nacianceno told The STAR. According to Nacianceno, five of the eight urinals the MMDA installed on the East Service Road at the South...

Russia launched a large-scale strategic naval exercise in the Far East and the Pacific early Monday morning. The exercise, participated by the Pacific and Northern fleets, strategic and front-line aviation and troops of the Far Eastern Military District, is unprecedented in the history of the Russian Navy in terms of its scale, range of participants and area, Itar-Tass quoted Admiral Viktor Kravchenko, chief of Russia's Naval Main Staff, as saying on Monday. The exercise involves 75 naval ships and support vessels of the Pacific Fleet, 20 aircraft of the Northern and Pacific fleets and 30,000 military servicemen and civilian specialists....

Hambali, alleged mastermind of al-Qaida's campaign of bombings in Southeast Asia, was plotting new terror attacks when he was captured this week, possibly against a Bangkok summit President Bush (news - web sites) is due to attend, Thailand's prime minister said Saturday. AP Photo Hambali, an Indonesian whose real name is Riduan Isamuddin, had planned to make Thailand a base for terror operations, but his arrest — and three of his associates since June — has uprooted his terror network Jemaah Islamiyah from the country, the Thai leader said. Thailand's porous, jungle and river frontiers and lax security at border...

The arrest last week of Southeast Asia's most-wanted terrorist was hailed as a major victory in the war on terrorism. But US analysts warn that radical Indonesian cleric Hambali has left behind a horrifying legacy: the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), a terror network closely aligned with Al Qaeda. US and regional intelligence agents say Hambali - who is suspected of masterminding last year's Bali bombings and helping some of the Sept. 11 hijackers - spent nearly a decade traversing this region, inspiring and training hundreds of militants to carry out attacks. The moon-faced Indonesian cleric is considered Southeast Asia's most senior...

JAKARTA, Indonesia, Aug. 17 — Security forces surrounded hotels, churches and foreign offices Sunday as Indonesia celebrated its Independence Day amid warnings of terrorist attacks after the arrest of al-Qaida’s alleged point man in Southeast Asia. After ceremonies at the presidential palace in Jakarta, national police chief Gen. Da’i Bachtiar announced that nine suspects had been arrested in connection with the Aug. 5 attack on the Marriott Hotel in the capital, in which 12 people were killed and nearly 150 injured. BACHTIAR SAID the nine had been picked up in separate raids over the past week. He gave no further...

First created : 18 August 2003 0802 hrs (SST) 0002 hrs (GMT) Last modified : 18 August 2003 0802 hrs (SST) 0002 hrs (GMT) Hambali ordered to recruit hijackers for new US targets: report Terror suspect Hambali was reportedly assigned to recruit additional teams of hijackers for attacks on US targets before his capture in Thailand last week. Citing a US official, the Newsweek magazine said that allegation has been corroborated by other intelligence including a major Al-Qaeda detainee and is believed credible. Southeast Asia's most-wanted terror suspect was not only the "operational mastermind" of Al-Qaeda's Southeast Asian affiliate, Jemaah...

Hambali, the Islamic militant whose arrest has been hailed as a breakthrough in the war on terrorism, was betrayed after members of his Jemaah Islamiah network fell out over money, according to a senior official in Thailand's defence ministry. In a rare dispute within the tightly knit terrorist network, members of a JI cell in Singapore were angry that comrades in Thailand had frittered away a sizeable sum of money they had sent them to fund a suicide bombing team for operations in the kingdom. When the Singaporeans were later arrested, they opened up to investigators, according to the defence...

Aug 17, 1:24 AM EDT JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Nine people have been arrested in connection with last week's attack on the Marriot Hotel in Jakarta that killed 12 people and injured nearly 150, the national police chief said Sunday. Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said the nine suspects had been picked up in separate raids over the past week. He gave no further details. On Friday, police said they had detained one suspect and were interrogating several others in connection with the attack on Aug. 5 in downtown Jakarta. Bachtiar's announcement came two days after the arrest in Thailand of Hambali,...

<p>BANGKOK — Hambali, the suspected mastermind of al Qaeda's bombing campaign in Southeast Asia who was captured last week, was plotting terror attacks against a Bangkok summit President Bush is due to attend, Thailand's prime minister said yesterday. Hambali, an Indonesian whose real name is Riduan Isamuddin, had planned to make Thailand a base for terror operations, but his arrest — and three of his associates, since June — has uprooted his terror network, Jemaah Islamiyah, from the country, the Thai leader said.</p>

Hambali set strategic direction for the JI using Al-Qaeda as model HAMBALI, Al-Qaeda's main link in South-east Asia, is said to be responsible for transforming a ragtag network of radical Muslims from Indonesia into the most dreaded terrorist outfit in the region. Analysts said he modelled the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) group along Osama bin Laden's network in several key ways. One was to split JI's operations into cells that worked independently of each other. This ensures that the organisation will survive even if some cells are busted. Another was to start business ventures to earn money for terror activities and...

JAKARTA - The man who was going to blow himself up was getting nervous as he drove the Kijang van into the JW Marriott Hotel driveway. Waiting by the right side of the U-shaped roundabout leading to the lobby entrance, 28-year-old Asmar Latin Sami grew even more edgy when two security guards walked towards his silver-coloured van. As they got closer, he pushed the button which triggered an explosion that ripped through the hotel, killing 11 people and injuring 150. It was a major blunder for him and the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) terrorist network. Investigators believed they botched up the...

South-east Asia's most wanted terrorist, known as Hambali, had been hiding in a one-room flat in the city of Ayutthaya in central Thailand for a fortnight with a woman thought to be his wife when he was arrested earlier this week, it was revealed yesterday. Masquerading as a Malaysian factory worker needing a home for three months, the alleged architect of numerous attacks in the past 10 years, including last year's Bali bombing, had shaved his beard, trimmed his moustache and undergone plastic surgery to disguise himself, a Thai police general said. Hambali, 39, whose real name is Riduan Isamuddin,...

JAKARTA, Indonesia, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- The arrest of the suspected mastermind of the last October's Bali bombings has prompted questions of how the al-Qaida network's operations will be affected. Thai officials said Riduan Isamuddin, better known as Hambali, was arrested in the central Thai town of Ayutthaya, 60 miles north of Bangkok, Tuesday by police who said they received help from U.S. intelligence agents, believed to be CIA operatives. Hambali is wanted as a prime suspect in the Oct. 12, 2002, terrorist bombings on the Indonesian island of Bali, which left 202 people dead, mostly Australian tourists. He is...