Jemaah Islamiah Terror Network Targeted + Bomb-maker among new suspects

TWO weeks after finding a blueprint detailing the Jemaah Islamiah terrorist network in the lair of one of its leaders, Indonesian police are on the verge of dismantling its hierarchy and disrupting a broader terror organisation across the troubled nation.

Six more suspects were named yesterday as a result of documents seized in the hideaway of Bali blast controller Mukhlas on December 5, bringing to 22 the number of alleged terrorists now linked to the Bali bombings.

Among them are two Malaysians, Dr Azahari, an alleged bomb-making expert, and Noor Din Moth Pop, who is alleged to have helped a third Malaysian academic, Wan Min, raise funds for the operation.

The other men are alleged to have played support roles in planning for the bombing: Saad Al Achmad Roishan, the owner of the house in which one of the meetings was held; Heri Hafidin, believed to be the main recruiter of participants; and Mubarok, through whose bank account some of the funds were channelled.

The sixth new suspect, Zulkarnain, was named on Saturday and is alleged to be the leader of a militia group called Askari Islamiah, an offshoot of the Jemaah Islamiah terrorist network.

Documents found in Mukhlas's lair have provided police with an unprecedented insight into JI's broad structure and its links to many shadowy groups throughout Indonesia and Malaysia -- all of which support its broad ideology of the implementation of Sharia law and the establishment of an Islamic state throughout southeast Asia.

In a related development, Tamsil Lindung, a member of the Islamic group Laska Jandullah, which police initially suspected was behind the Bali blasts, has been taken in for questioning.

He is being interrogated by police in the province of South Sulawesi. They are investigating the bombing of a McDonald's restaurant in the capital, Makassar, 10 days ago.

Police have since said they strongly believe the Makassar blast was linked to the Bali attacks.

A total of 15 Indonesians have so far been arrested and the alleged spiritual leader of JI, Abu Bakar Bashir, is under heavy suspicion in a Jakarta police hospital. His name also appears on the seized documents, however police have not yet found direct evidence to link him to the Bali bombings.

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty said more needed to be learned about JI, but admitted police now broadly understood how the group's structure worked.

"It's a loose coalition of aligned teams, some of whom are known and some of whom are not," Mr Keelty said. "It's not a hierarchical command and control structure that you might get with some organised crime syndicate, or indeed the IRA.

"It's an amorphous matrix structure that has no beginning and no end but has a lot of players who contribute to the overall ideology and philosophy of inciting fear that they should not be following the Western line."

Another five men, Dulmatin, Idris, Ali Imron, Umar (alias Wayan) and Umar (alias Patek), are still being hunted by police throughout Java. If they are captured and eventually linked to the attacks, the number of Bali conspirators would total 27.

http://www.dailytelegraph.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,5729415%255E401,00.html

POLICE are hunting six new suspects, including two Malaysians, over the Bali bombing, it was revealed last night.

The Malaysians were identified as a Dr Azahari, who is believed to have supplied bomb-making expertise, and suspected fundraiser Noor Din Moth Pop.

Indonesian police spokesman Edward Aritonang called Dr Azahari "an expert in weaponry and bomb-making".

"He was tasked with an explosion in another country, but he encountered difficulties and joined the team in Indonesia and gave instruction on how to assemble a bomb," he said.

The four other new suspects named by Indonesian police are believed to be from Indonesia.

One is Zulkarnain -- also known as Arif Sunarso and Daud -- who was mentioned in documents seized from suspects as the commander of Askari Islamiyah, a militia linked to the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) regional terror network.

Also being hunted is Saad al Achmad Roishan, the owner of a house at Solo in Central Java where the documents were found, Heri Hafidin, who allegedly recruited people for the bombing and preceding robberies, and Hutomo Pamungkas, alias Mubarok, who has a bank account where funds were transferred.

Police have so far arrested 15 Indonesian suspects, including three alleged top figures in the bombing which killed almost 200 people on October 12.

These are Imam Samudra, the alleged mastermind, Mukhlas, who is said to have been the controller of the Bali attack, and Amrozi, a brother of Mukhlas who allegedly supplied the van and chemicals for one of the bombs.

Police allege Mukhlas is JI's operations chief. At the weekend the three took part in a reconstruction of events leading up to the blast.

I suspect that the primary reason the Indonesians failed to crack down on IJ for so long was their belief (mistakenly, obviously) that their security services had them so sufficiently penetrated that they would be unable to conduct any operations in Indonesia without the government finding out about it.

Since Bali, the government has been calling in their chits and making their spies earn their pay. The result has been pretty impressive. Still, this is Christmas Eve in Indonesia and a traditional time for the Islamiofascists to throw bombs at churches and otherwise demonstrate the peaceful nature of Islam.

It they make it through New Years without another attack, I will be truly impressed.

I am sure you are right. But whether it will be an operation approved by the top leadership is questionable. The Indonesians have pretty much rolled up the in-country JI leadership and have anyone suspected of ties with them under pretty intense scrutiny.

The Angkatan Darat (Indonesian Army) is a major power in the nation and operates in mysterious ways. They view themselves as co-equals with the civilian government and are not always shy about getting their own way.

But the Bali bombing severely embarrassed them. They were the ones that were providing the strongest resistance to the crackdown on JI the U.S. had/has been pushing -- partially because they were sure their own spies would keep them informed, and partially because JI is to a large degree their creation. It could have never gotten as large or as strong as it is without Angkatan Darat approval.

Now, they feel they have been made fools of and don't like that feeling at all. If a JI cell does manage to do something this Christmas, you can expect the Army to come down on them like ugly on an ape.

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