Jemaah Islamiyah: Al-Qaeda's Asian branch?

Hindustan Times ^ | April 23 2003 | AFP

[knighthawk]

Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), the regional terror network widely suspected of staging the October 12, Bali bombings and dozens of other blasts, dreams of creating a pan-Islamic state in Southeast Asia.

It aims to destabilise the region through terror attacks and bring Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and the southern Philippines under a fundamentalist umbrella.

Elderly Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, Jemaah Islamiyah's alleged leader or "emir", went on trial on Wednesday for treason. He is charged with trying to topple the Jakarta government through terrorism and set up an Islamic state.

The same day Indonesian police announced they have arrested 17 alleged JI members including three more Bali bombing suspects.

Dozens of JI members are behind bars in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines but some experts believe it could still strike again.

Bashir, according to his indictment, co-founded Jemaah Islamiyah (Islamic community) in Malaysia in 1993 with Abdullah Sungkar. He is said to have assumed leadership when Sungkar died of natural causes in 1999.

JI has been strongly linked to the Al-Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden -- who Bashir has lauded as a "true Muslim fighter" -- and has often been described by analysts as the organisation's Southeast Asian proxy.

It has a network of supporters across Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the southern Philippines and has reached out to Muslim organisations in Thailand and Myanmar, the International Crisis Group said in a report last year.

Before Bali, the group said in its study, the bombings appeared to have been revenge for massacres of Muslims by Christians in the Maluku islands and Poso.

But the US-led war on terror now appeared to have become the main focus. The targeting in Bali of westerners rather than Indonesian Christians "may be indicative of that shift."

Bashir is not accused over Bali but the indictment says he authorised the Christmas Eve bombings.

He is also said to have approved a plot to bomb US interests in Singapore which was foiled with the arrest of 13 JI suspects there.

In addition the cleric is accused of ordering the assassination of current President Megawati Sukarnoputri when she was still vice president because she was seen as favouring Christians.

Another JI member, Mukhlas, is said to have refused that order because it was not feasible.

The indictment accuses Bashir of conspiring with leading JI members Hambali, Zulkarnaen, Imam Samudra and Mukhlas.

Hambali, the former operations chief of JI, is one of Asia's most wanted men.

Hambali is reported to have commanded the Malaysian and Singapore JI cells and arranged for members to undergo training with Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan when bin Laden was based there before the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

Samudra and Mukhlas, who is said to be Hambali's replacement, are among 30 people awaiting trial for the Bali bombings and Zulkarnaen is on the wanted list.

Singapore has 32 suspected JI militants in custody. And Malaysia says that since May 2001 it has detained 90 militant suspects including 65 members of JI.

In a recent briefing paper it said the JI threat is under control.

But Australia's top policeman Mick Keelty has warned that regional terrorists could be planning fresh attacks as progress in the Bali investigation slows.

[knighthawk]

Ping

[backhoe]

Jemaah Islamiah (JI), The words mean Islamic community. JI began as a village model ... bid to restore Islam's stature as the dominant global ideology. Jemaah Islamiah is lead by the cleric Abu Bakar Bashir.

Jemaah Islamiah
Jemaah Islamiah All the current Jemaah Islamiah news For more news on over 1,000 topics visit NewsTrove ... declare that the Indonesian-based organization known as Jemaah Islamiah ¿ along with all its members ¿ a terrorist organization ...
Description: Jemaah Islamiah News - News articles about Jemaah Islamiah from thousands of online newspapers, magazines, periodicals, journals, and other news sources. All categorized and with search engine capabilities.
http://jemaahislamiah.newstrove.com/  - 75 KB

Terrorism - Jemaah Islamiah
In the Spotlight: Jemaah Islamiah - from the CDI Terrorism Project, analysis by
Reyko Huang and Colin Robinson, Research Analysts at the Center for Defense ...
www.cdi.org/terrorism/ji.cfm - 24k - Mar 25, 2003 - Cached - Similar pages

Jemaah Islamiah
Jemaah Islamiah News - News articles about Jemaah Islamiah from thousands of online
newspapers, magazines, periodicals, journals, and other news sources. ...
jemaahislamiah.newstrove.com/ - 77k - Mar 25, 2003 - Cached - Similar pages

eTaiwanNews.com/Indonesia police ties Bali blasts to Jemaah ...
... Asia. Indonesia police ties Bali blasts to Jemaah Islamiah. 2003-01-29 / Reuters
/. ... Jemaah Islamiah was present in the Bali bombings," Bachtiar said. ...
www.etaiwannews.com/Asia/2003/01/29/1043805130.htm - 15k - Cached - Similar pages

UK Orders Immediate Freezing Of Jemaah Islamiah Assets - Britain ...
UK Orders Immediate Freezing Of Jemaah Islamiah Assets Statements and Events concerning
Britain and Asia. ... UK Orders Immediate Freezing Of Jemaah Islamiah Assets. ...
www.britainusa.com/asia/xq/asp/SarticleType.1/ Article_ID.2771/qx/articles_show.htm - 51k - Cached - Similar pages

Moro rebels to hunt Jemaah Islamiah agents - Nov. 06, 2002
AMID a US plan to blacklist the Moro Islamic Liberation Front as a terrorist group,
the MILF has pledged to go after a hundred Jemaah Islamiah (JI) and al ...
www.inq7.net/nat/2002/nov/06/nat_1-1.htm - 30k - Cached - Similar pages

US Praises 'Excellent Cooperation' Received From Indonesia, ...
Voice of America - 1 hour ago
... Indonesia has responded to that by conducting a police investigation that has made
remarkable assistance in solving the case and disrupting the Jemaah Islamiah ...

2002 Yearend: Whither Al Qaida? by Arnaud de Borchgrave 12/8/2002 9:43 PM
To ask whether one particular group of terrorists among the growing Muslim population of East Africa's lawless badlands has links with al Qaida, or whether al Qaida has links to Jemaah Islamiah's training facilities in Western Australia's Blue Mountains, are questions reminiscent of a Cold War debate about links between Europe's Communist terrorist cells and the KGB. This analysis is part of UPI's Special Report reviewing 2002 and previewing 2003. By Arnaud de Borchgrave.

PROFILE-Jemaah Islamiah-shadowy advocate...   (open window) [] [Similar Results]
Wednesday October 16, 12:05 PM PROFILE- Jemaah Islamiah -shadowy advocate of Islamic caliphate ... the names of Abu Bakar Bashir and the Jemaah Islamiah (Islamic Community) -- some foreign intelligence agencies say he ...
URL: http://sg.biz.yahoo.com/reuters/nsp118661.htm... [MSN #10]
Score: 65%

ABC Politics - 23/10/02 : Jemaah Islamia...   (open window) [] [Similar Results]
The Defence Minister Robert Hill says there are individuals in Australia who have links to Jemaah Islamiah and may even be operatives of the radical Islamic group.
URL: http://www.wn.com/link/nph-link.cgi?malay/hea... [MSN #8]
Score: 63%

PROFILE-Jemaah Islamiah poised for U.S. hit list
... October 23, 7:14 PM PROFILE-Jemaah Islamiah poised for U.S. hit list JAKARTA ... When the United States puts Jemaah Islamiah on a lengthening list of organisations ... Qaeda," said a recent study of Jemaah Islamiah by the Brussels-based International ...
more hits from: http://sg.biz.yahoo.com/reuters/nklr342247.html  - 9 KB