| Submit your comments on this article |
| Southeast Asia |
| JI still a potent threat despite arrest of key members |
| 2005-02-22 |
| South-East Asian authorities need to keep a close eye on Jemaah Islamiah despite recent arrests of some of the extremist group's key members, a counter terrorism expert has warned. Three Malaysians, Mohammad Nasir Abbas, Noordin Mohammad Top and alleged master bombmaker Azahari bin Husin, were arrested last year and have been accused of being senior members of the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah (JI) network. Abbas testified last December that he had been sworn into JI by hardline Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir. South-East Asian Regional Centre for Counter Terrorism director general Dato Zainal Abidin Zain said the arrests had helped disconnect links between JI and al-Qaeda, which was a significant achievement. "The (JI) movement has suffered major setbacks following the apprehension of its JI operation chief combatants," he told the Third Annual National Security Conference in Sydney. "These successful captures meant that another point of contact between the al-Qaeda and this region has been cut off." But authorities needed to stay vigilant, he warned. "It is important to note that although the JI have suffered a setback the threat by the remaining members ... cannot be discounted," Mr Zain said. "The next phase of our investigation and efforts will focus on cleaning up the JI remnants." Mr Zain said any attempt to stop terrorism had to look at grassroots problems, such as poverty. "We need to look long and deep at all the issues that surround terrorism. Terrorism knows no colour, religion, beliefs and boundaries. Therefore it is only logical that efforts to counter terrorism are best to ignore, colour, religion, beliefs and boundaries." |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |