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Terror Networks
Malaysia worried about triumvirate of bloodthirsty holy men
2002-02-11
  • Nurjaman Riduan, better known as Hambali, Abu Bakar Bashir and Muhammad Iqbal arrived in Malaysia in the mid-1980s to flee Indonesian security forces. All products of fundamentalist Islamic boarding schools, they became active members of the militant movement there and wanted Indonesia to adopt Islamic law. Security officials believe that Hambali and Abu Bakar joined hundreds of Muslims from the region who went to Afghanistan in the late 1980s to help the mujahidin fight against the Soviet Union. While there, the preachers got to know Osama bin Laden and his band of Afghan fighters. That link between them and the Al-Qaeda network appears to have been strengthened over time, as did the esteem they had for the world's most famous terrorist.

    Upon returning home, the Indonesian-born preachers were convinced that Muslims from around the world needed to bear arms to fight against the enemies of Islam. The round-faced, bearded and bespectacled Hambali began recruiting Muslims in the region to fight in Bosnia and Algeria. He was also becoming quite well-known to operators of the Al-Qaeda network, especially to Kuwaiti Ramzi Yousef and Afghan Wali Khan Amin Shah. Both men would figure prominently in terrorist attacks against the US in the early 1990s. Ramzi and Wali Khan were convicted for their roles in devising plans to hijack and bomb 11 US commercial planes and to assassinate Pope John Paul II during his 1995 visit to the Philippines.

    Yazid Sufaat gave Hambali free use of a condominium that overlooked a golf course designed by Jack Nicklaus in the suburb of Kajang. It was at this apartment complex that police surveillance cameras captured him and the Indonesian preacher meeting Khalid al-Midhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi - two hijackers who were aboard the American Airlines plane that crashed into the Pentagon.

    Malaysian police did not pick up Yazid and Hambali for questioning because there was no evidence then of involvement in any wrongdoing. That assessment has altered dramatically. Now, a darker image of Hambali is emerging. He was the point man for the Al-Qaeda network in the region, and Yazid was his trusted lieutenant. Police believe that the preacher, who is on the run, will be able to draw the complete map of militant cells in the region.

    Says a Malaysian government official: 'The more information we unearth about Abu Bakar, Hambali, Iqbal, the more concerned we are about the damage they did to Muslims in the country. We know that there are about 200 more people that need to be picked up and questioned. But we cannot say conclusively that no other cells exist besides Kumpulan Militan Malaysia (KMM) and Jemaah Islamiah. We dare not.'
    A pity Indonesia doesn't take the threat as seriously as Singapore and Malaysia.
    Singapore and Malaysia are run by de facto dictators who don't have to keep their eyes on political opinion. Megawatti, on the other hand, has to tread lightly over a Islam-friendly military and a fragile coalition government. She's not in a good position to be a strongman like Lee or Mahathir without starting a civil war.

    Thuis, she may be wimpy on al Qaeda out of both fear and political necessity.

    Posted by Mark Byron [markbyron.blogspot.com] 2/11/2002 2:59:16 PM
    • Posted by:Fred Pruitt

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