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Thai police nab Hambali
Hambali, Asiaâs most wanted man and second in command of the alleged terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), has been arrested in Ayutthaya on suspicion of plotting to stage a terrorist attack during the Apec summit in October, sources said yesterday.Prepare to ululate! Hambali, whose real name is Riduan Isamuddin, has been held since early this week in a secret location for questioning by Thai authorities and FBI officials from the US, sources said. Sources said police discovered that Hambali had travelled from Chiang Khong border district in Chiang Rai to hide among the Muslim community in Ayutthaya. Remember those trips to Thailand that all the JI deny? Authorities have confiscated a number of explosive devices and weapons, which Hambali allegedly confessed were being prepared for use in a terrorist attack during Apec, which brings together prime ministers, presidents, and chief executives from 21 Asia-Pacific econo-mies. He couldnât resist this juicy a target. Hambali is believed to be JIâs number two behind Indonesian Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, who is being detained in Indonesia in connection with a number of terrorist attacks in that country. JI is the prime suspect in the Bali bombings last October, and last weekâs terrorist attack in front of the JW Marriott in Jakarta. Hambali, a 37-year-old Islamic scholar, is wanted by Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines in connection with a string of regional terrorist attacks over the past few years. A security source who monitors the movements of Muslim militants last night confirmed the arrest of Hambali. The source said Washington did not tip off authorities about his whereabouts. Defence Minister Thamarak Isarankura said yesterday that authorities were interrogating a suspect but would not confirm it was Hambali. Thai authorities are believed to have known Hambali was in Thailand in January last year, where he planned the Bali bombings at a meeting in Bangkok. Since then, according to an intelligence source, he had returned to Thailand twice trying to evade police detection. Thatâs why everyone denied going to Thailand, it was a safe house. If this is true, Fredâs gonna burn a whole lot of ammo. FOLLOWUP: From Rooters... ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (Reuters) - An Indonesian man known as "Hambali," suspected mastermind of the Bali bombings and the more recent JW Marriott blast in Jakarta, has been captured, a White House spokesman said on Thursday. "His capture is another important victory in the global war on terrorism and a significant blow to the enemy," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan aboard Air Force One. Hambali, who is also known as Riduan Isamuddin, "facilitated" a January 2000 meeting in Malaysia attended by two men who later became hijackers in the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on America, a senior administration official said. The official called Hambali "one of the world's most lethal terrorists," saying his group, Jemaah Islamiah, was also linked to a series of church bombings in the Philippines. He was the most wanted man in Southeast Asia and was seen as the bridge between Jemaah Islamiah and al Qaeda. And some from ABC... The CIA called the arrest the "most significant capture since that of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed," who was captured in March and is believed to have been the military commander al Qaeda's global terror network. In the past, the CIA has called the Indonesia-born Hambali the "Osama bin Laden" of Southeast Asia. Prisoners in custody have told the CIA that Hambali recently received a large sum of money from al Qaeda to carry out attacks against U.S. targets in the region. "He will certainly know about what is in the pipeline," an official told ABCNEWS. President Bush announced Hambali's capture when he spoke to troops today in San Diego. "He is no longer a problem to those who love freedom," Bush said. "We're making progress slowly but surely." Posted by: Steve 2003-08-14 |
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