| Submit your comments on this article |
| Southeast Asia |
| Top styling himself as bin Laden of SE Asia |
| 2006-02-02 |
| Noordin Mohamed Top wanted for his alleged role in terror attacks in Indonesia is now claiming to be the head of a new South-East Asian militant organisation with links to al-Qaeda. Noordin had been regarded as a key leader in Jemaah Islamiah. Indonesia's police chief, Gen Sutanto, told lawmakers yesterday that Noordin was claiming to be the head of the “Tanzim Qaedat-al Jihad'' or “Organisation for the Basis of Jihad'' for Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines. “Qaedat'' comes from the same Arabic language root as “al-Qaeda.” Sutanto said the claim came in a message from Noordin in which he took responsibility for last year's restaurant bombings in Bali which killed 20. Sutanto's revelation backs up the contention of some analysts, who have speculated that Noordin and his followers have been operating outside Jemaah Islamiah's command structure in recent years, due to a rift within the network over attacks that kill innocent Muslims. “If it is true that he has given a new name to the group, that would suggest that the split has been formalised,'' said Sidney Jones, an expert on South-East Asian militant groups. She said that dubbing the group “al-Qaeda'' did not mean that Noordin had fresh financial and formal links with Osama bin Laden's terror group, which police and analysts say have now dried up. “It could be a way of buoying up his image to his followers," Jones said. “He could be trying to ape the ways of some of the other al-Qaeda affiliates." |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |