Posted on 07/15/2004 1:40:12 PM PDT by knighthawk
PAKISTANI-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is alleged to have trained Australian terror suspects David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib, is extending its operational tentacles into Southeast Asia.
A terrorism white paper released by Foreign Minister Alexander Downer yesterday examines the future of the terrorist threat to Australia.
It says support for al-Qaeda regional offshoot Jemaah Islamiah is growing despite the arrest of more than 300 operatives in the wake of September 11 and the Bali bombing.
Though Lashkar-e-Taiba was involved in providing training to Southeast Asian-based terrorist groups such as JI and the Philippines-based Abu Sayyaf in Pakistan and Kashmir, some of its operatives are networking with al-Qaeda-linked terror cells in Southeast Asia.
LET, as it is known, is the armed wing of Pakistan-based religious extremists who aim to remove Indian troops from the disputed province of Kashmir. The Indian Government has expressed concerns it has a more ambitious agenda.
"Jemaah Islamiah's links with Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistan and Kashmir are particularly significant for our region," the paper says.
"There have been indications that Lashkar-e-Taiba is seeking to extend its operational reach into Southeast Asia and Australia from its traditional preoccupation with Kashmir. In 2003 a Jemaah Islamiah cell in Karachi, Pakistan, known as the Al Ghuruba cell, was disrupted. The cell was found to contain Southeast Asian university students (who) were being groomed as future Jemaah Islamiah leaders.
"Transnational terrorism is not a one-way flow ... international terrorist groups reach into Southeast Asia but groups from within our region reach out," it says.
The white paper also warns that the "numbers of Jemaah Islamiah members and supporters is likely to be growing".
"A steady flow of extremists is being produced by a small number of radical religious schools (throughout Southeast Asia) and through dedicated Jemaah Islamiah military training," the report says.
"And the high profile of Jemaah Islamiah's operations will help its efforts to inspire a new cohort of radicals to join the terrorist ranks," it says.
The report warns that Jemaah Islamiah is likely to persist with suicide bombings and truck-bomb attacks and will seek to extend its links into Thai and Burmese Muslim separatist groups.
Ping
Reports from Indian Intel (SAAG.ORG) specify the transit of pakistanis into Iraq.
Which could make for an interesting situation if the US convinces the Pakistanis to send troops to Iraq.
Pakistani troops could end up fighting the very jihadis they themselves have trained for fighting in Kashmir and Afghanistan.
Has any country benefited from sponsoring jihadis more than Pakistan?
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