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JAKARTA - Captured Jemaah Islamiah (JI) chief Hambali has provided CIA interrogators with details of Al-Qaeda plans to attack two American-managed hotels in Bangkok and commercial airliners using the international airport, said intelligence officials and diplomats. The arrest of Hambali has diminished the risk of any successful attack 'significantly', said a foreign diplomat. The attacks were apparently planned to coincide with the Asia- Pacific Economic Coo- peration summit in Bangkok next month in which 21 world leaders, including United States President George W. Bush, will attend. The two hotels targeted by the Al-Qaeda were the Bangkok Marriott and The Conrad,...

The United States has paid Thailand a bounty of 10 million dollars for its capture of Asia's most wanted man Hambali, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said yesterday. "We have received 10 million dollars. Part of the money will be distributed to officers involved in the operation, the rest will fund foundations to oversee the welfare of officers injured in the line of duty," the premier said. Thaksin said security agencies involved in the capture of Asia's top terrorist suspect will receive fair shares of the bounty. "Don't worry, the United States has specified which agencies worked with them and...

Al-Qa'ida southeast Asian mastermind, Hambali, has confirmed that fresh attacks were being planned in Bangkok with possible targets including US-owned hotels, airlines and popular night clubs, according to government sources in the region. The anticipated attacks, which may have been timed to coincide with APEC meetings due in mid-October, have already led to a sharp step-up in security at several key venues in Bangkok. A particular concern for regional governments has been information that al-Qa'ida may have been targeting airliners flying to the US from Bangkok. "It underlines the fact that it (the threat) is for real," one government source...

US pays $10m for Hambali Hambali is being interrogated in US custody The United States has paid Thailand $10m for its part in the arrest of Indonesian terror-suspect Hambali. Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said the money had arrived and he would decide which police officers and other causes would share the reward. Hambali, who was arrested in August north of the Thai capital Bangkok, is now being interrogated by the US. He is thought to be a key figure in the Asian group Jemaah Islamiah, and its link with Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda. The Thai prime minister said some...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

<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>

<p>Treasury Secretary John Snow will discuss ways to boost global growth on a trip next month to China and Japan and at a meeting of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Thailand, the Treasury Department announced Monday.</p> <p>"Achieving strong and vibrant global growth is one of the world's most pressing priorities," Snow said in a statement. "We live in an interdependent world economy where our fortunes are inextricably linked."</p>

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...

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...

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...

Deputy secretary of state says terror plans may go ahead despite Hambali's arrest The October Apec summit in Thailand, which many world leaders will attend, is still at risk of terrorist attack despite the arrest of regional militant big boss terrorist chief Hambali last week, a senior US official said yesterday. US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said in Sydney that it could not be assumed that the arrest meant there was no longer a threat to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. "That would be a foolish assumption," he told Australia's Channel Nine television network. "We have a top...

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...

<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>

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,...

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...

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...

CRAWFORD, Texas - President Bush on Saturday thanked Thailand's prime minister for his country's help in capturing an alleged al-Qaida mastermind, and promised Indonesia's leader that information from the man's interrogation would be shared.Bush, back here after a two-day California trip, talked with four world leaders Saturday morning, primarily discussing recent advances in the war on terror.Besides exercising and doing projects on his ranch, Bush also received receive updates on the recent power outages, White House press secretary Scott McClellan said.In his Saturday radio address, the president asked Congress to pass legislation making it easier for timber companies to cut...

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,...

BANGKOK, Aug. 15 -- Hambali, the top strategist for al Qaeda in Southeast Asia and the region's most wanted fugitive, was done in by suspicious neighbors and a telephone trace, regional security officials said. Around 11 p.m. Tuesday, about a dozen undercover Thai agents burst into Apartment 601 at a building in a city north of Bangkok, surprising the slumbering Indonesian cleric and his wife, security officials said. Hambali had a handgun, but did not have time to shoot, they said. Aided by the CIA, authorities found him in Ayutthaya, a city about 45 miles north of the Thai capital,...

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...

Two-year hunt tracked al-Qa'ida 'branch manager' to Thailand By Kathy Marks in Sydney 16 August 2003 A two-year manhunt across South-east Asia ended in the back streets of the ancient Thai city of Ayutthaya, where Riduan Isamuddin, one of the linchpins of al-Qa'ida's terrorist network, was arrested at a block of flats with a cache of weapons and explosives. Isamuddin, alias Hambali, a lieutenant of Osama bin Laden, was being questioned by US investigators at a secret location yesterday and his capture was hailed as a massive coup in the fight against terrorism. On the run since late 2001, Hambali,...

The entire nation breathed a collective sigh of relief yesterday when it was announced by the White House, the Pentagon, the New York City mayor's office and spokesmen for the power industry that the outage was not the result of a terrorist attack. The fact that everyone was falling over themselves to declare this speaks volumes about the continuing wall of worry about terrorism in this country since 9-11. New York in particular has experienced several big blackouts in the past few decades. Did anyone ever suggest that any of those episodes may have been terrorism? Of course not. No...

Highly Covert U.S.-Thai Operation Nabbed Hambali 2 minutes ago Add Top Stories - Reuters to My Yahoo! By Tabassum Zakaria WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The operation by the CIA (news - web sites) and Thai counter-terrorism authorities that captured top al Qaeda operative Hambali was so secret that few inside the U.S. government knew of it beforehand, officials said on Friday. "It was highly compartmented. Hardly anybody knew about it. It was exceedingly carefully planned and carried out, and even within the U.S. government hardly anyone knew about it," a U.S. official said on condition of anonymity. Hambali, born Riduan Isamuddin,...

JAKARTA, Indonesia, Aug 15, 2003 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- The radical cleric Riduan Isamuddin has been called Southeast Asia's most wanted terrorist and Osama bin Laden's point man in the region - an expert organizer blamed for a string of devastating attacks that have killed hundreds of people. Intelligence officials say his goal is to create an Islamic super-state that would include much of Southeast Asia. Isamuddin, also known as Hambali, the operational mastermind of the al-Qaida linked Southeast Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiyah, was arrested this week in a raid on an apartment building in the Thai city...

Bangkok: The arrest of Hambali, al-Qaeda's top man in Asia and suspected mastermind behind last year's Bali bombing, is being hailed as a major breakthrough in the US-led war against terrorism. The terrorist chief was reported to be planning to attack October's APEC summit in Bangkok. Hambali was captured in Thailand, handed over to the Americans and flown to Indonesia, officials said today. However Indonesian ministers and police denied any knowledge he was in their country. Asia's most wanted man, now clean-shaven and his face altered by plastic surgery, was arrested together with his wife by Thai and US officials...

<p>SAN DIEGO &#8212; President Bush yesterday said the United States has captured "one of the world's most lethal terrorists," an al Qaeda leader who is the prime suspect in last year's Bali bombing.</p> <p>Riduan Isamuddin, also known as Hambali, is believed to be al Qaeda's top representative in Southeast Asia. He headed a group known as Jemaah Islamiyah, which is suspected in the Bali bombing and a series of terrorist attacks on churches in the Philippines and Indonesia.</p>

SAN DIEGO (AP) - President Bush declared Thursday that ``we're winning'' the war against terrorism as he carefully kept his distance from the California gubernatorial recall campaign that has overshadowed his own re-election bid. Bush has called the effort to recall Democratic Gov. Gray Davis ``a fascinating bit of political drama,'' yet he all but ignored it after arriving here from his Texas ranch. Bush kept his emphasis on fighting terrorism and on his role as commander in chief - his political strong suits - on a day he also was raising $1 million for his campaign. Bush indirectly devoted...

(Reuters) - Hambali, al Qaeda's top man in Southeast Asia and suspected mastermind behind a string of deadly bombings, has been captured in Thailand, handed over to the Americans and flown out of the country, officials said on Friday. Asia's most wanted man, now clean-shaven and his face altered by plastic surgery, was arrested with a woman by Thai and U.S. officials in Ayutthaya, the ancient Thai capital 80 km (50 miles) north of Bangkok, a senior Thai general said. "A special flight from the United States picked him up at Bangkok airport on Wednesday morning," said the general,...

WASHINGTON, U.S.A (AFP): The White House on Thursday announced the capture of a top ally of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Asia, Riduan bin Isomuddin, also known as Hambali. The 36-year-old Islamic scholar, a chief of the radical group Jamaah Islamiyah, is wanted in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines in connection with a series of bomb attacks. "His capture is another important victory in the global war on terrorism and a significant blow to the enemy," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters from the presidential plane, Air Force One. A senior administration official called Hambali "one of...

Breaking on MSNBC..

I just heard a news clip about the top al Queda man being captured. Anyone else hear anything?

They just broke into Rush's show to make the announcement. I haven't heard any more.

Aug. 14— The CIA has captured another major Al Qaeda leader who is believed to have planned bombings in Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia, ABCNEWS has learned. A top al Qaeda member and a leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, Riduan Isamuddin (aka Hambali), 36, was arrested as part of a CIA undercover operation. He is currently being returned to Indonesia.

A senior figure in Jemaah Islamiyah, a Southeast Asian terrorist group, testified Thursday that Osama bin Laden set in motion a series of plots that the group carried out in Indonesia and Singapore.

Not for commercial use. Solely to be used for the educational purposes of research and open discussion. 9/11 arrest throws light on JI Kimina Lyall * Southeast Asia correspondent, Martin Chulov The Australian WORLD; Pg. 7 March 3, 2003 Monday All-round Country Edition THE capture of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed not only casts new light on the September 11 attacks on the US, it offers southeast Asian police potentially their best insight yet into al-Qa'ida's regional operations, especially by Jemaah Islamiah. Khalid emerged again in the region in January 2000 at an apartment in Kuala Lumpur, where he was videotaped by...

JAKARTA: The alleged mastermind of the deadly Bali bombing has admitted he knows a suspected leading al-Qaeda operative called Hambali, Indonesian police said Wednesday. National police chief General Da’i Bachtiar said Imam Samudra, who was arrested last Thursday while on the run after Bali, previously denied knowing Hambali “but after we showed him evidence, he admitted knowing him.” Hambali, an Indonesian whose real name is Riduan Isamuddin, is being hunted by five governments. He is the suspected operations chief of Southeast Asian militant group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and is also believed to be a leading member of Osama bin Laden’s...

Australian accused of plot to bomb embassies An Australian man charged after a series of counter-terrorism raids this month allegedly planned to bomb Israeli diplomatic buildings in Canberra and Sydney. The 49-year-old man, named as Jack Roche, was arrested in Perth late last night over an alleged plan to bomb diplomatic posts in Australia. The Australian Federal Police said he faced a charge of conspiracy to bomb diplomatic premises in Australia when he appears in the Perth Court of Petty Sessions this morning. AFP general manager national operations Ben McDevitt said his arrest was not connected to the Bali bombings....

Bomb wasn't for Aussies: suspect THE man being held by Indonesia for a role in the Bali blast has admitted helping build the bomb but told police he was not happy that Australians were killed, the chief Indonesian investigator said today. The head of the Indonesian investigation team probing the attack, Major General I Made Mangku Pastika, said in Manila the suspect Amrozi had said he wanted to "kill as many Americans as possible" in the attack. He said Amrozi told police "they were not very happy because Australians were killed", instead of Americans. The massive October 12 blast...

<p>CNN) -- Terrorist network Al Qaeda has infiltrated and is funding violent local conflicts throughout Southeast Asia, according to senior intelligence officials in two southeast Asian countries.</p> <p>Following the arrests of nearly 100 militants in the region with suspected links to Al Qaeda, authorities say they are learning more about the network's complex structure.</p>

A network of Muslim terrorists has been organizing across Southeast Asia to stir up inter-ethnic bloodshed, attack regional and U.S. targets, and replace moderate leaders with Islamic states, according to the government of Singapore. The information emerged from investigations following the arrest in Singapore of 21 suspected militants, most of them members of a regional network with a strong presence in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. That network is called Jemaah Islamiah (JI). JI has been linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda in various ways. Some of the detainees in Singapore admitted undergoing military training at al Qaeda camps in...

Bali joins a long list of vicious attacks by one of Osama bin Laden's most deadly disciples - and he will strike again. He is 36, bearded, tubby and bespectacled. In the teeming cities of South-East Asia, he is virtually impossible to spot. He is one of the world's most wanted terrorists and the prime suspect for masterminding last weekend's Bali bomb. But intelligence agencies know they must find 'Hambali', the nom de guerre of Riduan Isamuddin, an Indonesian cleric believed to be al-Qaeda's mastermind in the region. Bali was just the latest in a series of attacks in the...

efreedomnews         WAR ON TERRORISM - AN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVE Bali Explodes: Jemaah Islamiah - al Qaida at Workefreedomnews.comOctober 13, 2002 First, a small explosion went off outside Paddy's Discotheque, then, just down the street, a powerful car bomb erupted outside the Sari Nightclub, Kuta Beach, Bali. Cooking gas canisters exploded, destroying the structure,  killing 187 and injuring more than 300 including three Americans, many Australians as well as tourists from Canada, Britain, Germany and Sweden.  A third bomb exploded outside the US Consulate causing no injuries. The Kuta Beach area is primarily an Australian and European tourist area.The attack...

Not for commercial use. Solely to be used for the educational purposes of research and open discussion. Plot to blow up four embassies revealed on Afghan video: SINGAPORE BOMB CONSPIRACY By JOHN BURTON and ROEL LANDINGIN Financial Times (London) AL QAEDA: TERRORISM AFTER AFGHANISTAN; Pg. 12 February 22, 2002, Friday London Edition 1 John Burton and Roel Landingin on how an al-Qaeda affiliate came close to carrying out a devastating act of terrorism Looming on a small rise overlooking the eight lanes of Napier Road, the US Embassy in Singapore is a forbidding building of dark gray granite. Flanked on ...