Posted on 01/31/2006 9:23:29 AM PST by Valin
JAKARTA: Indonesian police are investigating possible links between a purported new militant network and al Qaeda, with initial indications showing it was set up by two key Malaysian radicals, police said today.
Indonesia's police chief told parliamentarians yesterday that documents seized in November showed Noordin M Top had proclaimed himself leader of a group called Tanzim Qaedat al-Jihad network, or Organisation for the Basis of Jihad.
Top has been Southeast Asia's most wanted Islamic militant since Indonesian anti-terrorism police killed his associate, Malaysian Azahari bin Husin, in November in a shootout in East Java that coincided with raids in which the documents were found.
An expert in recruiting young suicide bombers among Indonesia's impoverished masses, Top eluded capture at the time but was still in the country, deputy national police spokesman Brigadier General Anton Bachrul Alam said on Tuesday.
Asked what links Tanzim Qaedat al-Jihad had to groups such as Jemaah Islamiah, a shadowy network long seen as the regional arm of al Qaeda, Alam said: ''This (Tanzim) was their group Noordin and Azahari. They have long been involved in terrorism.'' Top and Azahari were also key members of Jemaah Islamiah.
The seized documents gave no details about Tanzim Qaedat al-Jihad, Alam added. Security experts say Jemaah Islamiah recently splintered, with some members concerned that bombings carried out by militants such as Top were drawing too much attention.
One former senior Jemaah Islamiah member, a Malaysian who served jail time for immigration offences but has sincere pented and helps Indonesian police, said Top used a variety of names to describe the groups of men he commanded in different operations.
Ping
Thanks for the ping.
It is good to keep an eye on developments in the Far East, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, etc. In the GWOT the headlines have been centered on Iraq, and to a lesser exten on Afghanistan/Pakistan, but the reality is that it is truly global.
Hambali, the sequel
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