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| Southeast Asia |
| JI alive and dangerous |
| 2006-01-07 |
| The Jemaah Islamiah network is alive and dangerous, with close to 1,000 members, JI expert Sidney Jones warned Thursday (Jan 5). Despite repeated security crackdowns, the mainstream JI faction poses a far greater threat than the smaller, hardline breakaway group notorious for its suicide attacks, she added. "How it will use that mass base is anyone's guess. But when you have a group of armed, trained supporters, you will use them in some way," Jones told academics, diplomats, officials and others attending the Regional Outlook Forum organised by the Institute of South-East Asian Studies. Terrorism was one of the regional challenges highlighted at the annual event, held at the Shangri-La Hotel. About 20 speakers discussed political and economic challenges, among other issues, at the meeting. Jones noted that the leader of the mainstream group, Thoriqudin alias Abu Rusdan, who was recently released after serving a three-year jail term for sheltering a bomber involved in the first Bali attacks, would likely work to revive and build up the network. The organisation also remained committed to military training for its members. Some news reports have suggested that the mainstream group was the lesser threat because of its reservations over the use of violence to achieve the goal of establishing an Islamic state. But Jones, who heads the Jakarta office of the International Crisis Group, a non-governmental organisation working to resolve conflicts, said the picture was more complicated. While leaders of the mainstream faction tried to distance themselves from the splinter group, many of its rank-and-file members were still supportive of its violent tactics, she said. Jones noted too that the "suicide attack" faction was smaller, with just 30 to 50 people But, for now, its members are a pressing security concern. Its chief strategist, Noordin Mohamed Top, is at large and is behind a recent shift in plans to carry out kidnappings as a terror tactic. But she added that bombing remains the "method of choice" and that recent potential targets included the Christian University of Malang, Americans working at an electrical plant near Banyuwangi in East Java, and a synagogue and foreign consulates in Surabaya. The attacks did not materialise but "the sheer variety shows the group's determination to strike out at anything remotely feasible, with Jews, Christians, kafirs (non-believers), Indonesians and foreigners all thrown into the mix". Such was Noordin's hatred of Westerners and non-believers that he had proposed attacks on the Novotel Hotel in Surabaya because the manager was believed to be an Australian, and on a mushroom processing company because its manager was thought to be a Chinese or Korean, she said, citing the testimony of a Javanese who had been accused of helping Noordin. Jones said the hardline faction had also tried to recruit militants linked to the Muslim charity, Kompak, which had been involved in local conflicts in Poso. Although Kompak is not so well known, its leaders are able to mobilise its members swiftly in conflict areas, she pointed out. Other speakers at the conference highlighted the security threat in southern Thailand and Mindanao and the influence of the developments in Iraq. Associate Professor Zachary Abuza, who teaches at the Simmons College in Boston, expressed his concern that foreign militant groups could get involved in southern Thailand. There is also information that some Bangladeshi militant groups are active in the troubled provinces, he said. Terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna said he feared Bangkok could face a terrorist attack within a year. Gunaratna said terrorism is growing at a very serious pace and that it is just a matter of time before terrorists attack Bangkok. At the conference itself, he had said that the centre of gravity of terrorism had shifted from Afghanistan to Iraq, and that it was inspiring a new generation of jihadists around the globe. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |