Posted on 07/24/2004 7:20:17 AM PDT by knighthawk
South-East Asia has not destroyed regional terror group Jemaah Islamiah (JI) but it is winning the war on terrorism, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi says.
"The war on terror in South-East Asia, I think we are winning that war," he said.
"Not completely but we are watching very very carefully and we believe that soon we should see no more threats."
Mr Abdullah says it is tough to predict when a total victory could be declared as some members of JI, seen as the regional wing of Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network, are still operating out of Indonesia.
Malaysia has arrested dozens of suspected Islamic militants believed to be JI members under a tough security law allowing indefinite detention without trial.
Mr Abdullah says Malaysia could curb any new JI threats that arise in the country.
"I wouldn't say that they are destroyed but if there is anymore, we are able to contain them," Mr Abdullah said.
"We know that there are some elements of this group that are still there in Indonesia. The Indonesians are working very hard to trace them."
Authorities blame the JI terror group for a string of attacks including the Bali bombings, which killed 202 people in October 2002, and the Marriott hotel car bombing in Jakarta last August.
On his recent decision to send a Malaysian military medical team to Iraq, Mr Abdullah says the move is not aimed at "sending a signal to anybody but we feel that we need to do something to help the people of Iraq."
Mr Abdullah, who is the current chairman of both the 57-member Organisation of the Islamic Conference and the 116-nation non-aligned movement of developing nations, reiterates his call for other Muslim countries to help rebuild Iraq.
"I would also like to see other Muslim countries doing something there because Iraq is a Muslim country," he said.
Mr Abdullah is visiting Britain on the last leg of a five-day trip that also took him to the United States and France.
It is his first visit to the three big powers since taking over last October from retiring premier Mahathir Mohamad.
International terrorism featured high on the agenda during his talks with US President George W Bush, French President Jacques Chirac and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Ping
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