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Bali's successors issue new call for jihad
During its long and bloody history in Indonesia which includes a string of deadly bombings, among them the 2002 attack on the Bali beach resort Jemaah Islamiyah has been called many things: terrorists, murderers, allies of Osama bin Laden. But until this month, no one had ever called them weak-kneed. But in a video analysts say heralds the formation of an even more extreme organization in Indonesia, the group that killed 202 people in Bali and is suspected of carrying out subsequent attacks on foreign-owned hotels and the Australian embassy in Jakarta is taunted by assault rifle-wielding men as having lost its stomach for holy war.To all members of Jemaah Islamiyah, unite! Jihad is not waged with pens or wearing prayer caps and sarongs,' one militant says to the camera, his face obscured by an editor. No, you fight jihad with weapons. Before your hair goes grey with age, join us!' He goes on to call out one moderate leader of Jemaah Islamiyah by name, saying all he does is sit in an office.' The 75-minute video, posted online by a group that calls itself al-Qaeda in Aceh, is similar in style to those produced by the main al-Qaeda network based in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Militants are shown firing weapons and going through physical training. Clips from Mr. bin Laden's speeches are interspersed with calls for the establishment of an Islamic state in Indonesia. Two weeks before the video was posted online, a special unit of the Indonesian police raided what they called a terrorist training camp' deep in the forests of the province of Aceh, the westernmost point of Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago with the world's largest population of Muslims. But while the police operations which captured dozens of assault rifles and hand grenades, as well as cash and fake identification papers were a blow to al-Qaeda in Aceh, discoveries made at the camp revealed how dangerous the new group may be. While underscoring the split within Jemaah Islamiyah, which fractured under police pressure after the Bali bombings, the evidence suggests a new unity among Indonesia's extremist groups, analysts say. Those caught or killed at the training camp included several hardline members of Jemaah Islamiyah, as well as fighters from at least five other militant factions that had never previously found common cause. Little bomb-making material was discovered at the camp, leading to speculation that the group may have ruled out future Bali-style attacks, which have been divisive among jihadis, since many of those killed in such mass bombings have been Muslims. The group appeared instead to have been training to carry out targeted assassinations or perhaps military-style assaults similar to the 2008 attacks on foreign hotels and other targets in the Indian city of Mumbai. The group's weaponry was apparently supplied by a member who was also a Jakarta police officer with access to firearms slated for disposal. It's a coming together of most of the main jihadi groups [in Indonesia], with the exception of Jemaah Islamiyah,' said Sidney Jones, a Jakarta-based analyst for the International Crisis Group. It was really a composite group of people who seem to have agreed on a lowest common denominator of what they could all find acceptable. They didn't necessarily agree to carry out [Bali]-style bombings, but they did agree on military training and the need to establish an Islamic state, by force if necessary.' The militants are believed to have been planning an attack on the United Nations headquarters in Banda Aceh, the regional capital, and police are looking for links between the group and a series of mysterious shootings that targeted foreigners in the city last year. It has become clear to us that Dulmatin had instructed those whom we have managed to capture alive to launch violent attacks against very specific targets,' said General Bambang Hendarso Danuri, Indonesia's national police chief. Despite the new organization's name, Ms. Jones said it isn't clear whether there are any real ties between it and the wider al-Qaeda network. However, al-Qaeda in Aceh does have strong links to Abu Sayyaf, the notorious group that has terrorized the southern Philippines for two decades. Several prominent members, including Mr. Dulmatin and the man believed to have succeeded him as leader of al-Qaeda in Aceh, Umar Patek, are known to have fled Indonesia following the Bali bombings and gone to the Philippines, where they fought alongside Abu Sayyaf. Like Mr. Dulmatin, Mr. Patek is a former senior commander in Jemaah Islamiyah renowned for his bomb-making skills. One of those killed at the Aceh camp was a Filipino fighter believed to have been a member of Abu Sayyaf, raising concern at the ease with which the militants appear to be moving between Indonesia and the Philippines. The new organization is believed to have chosen Aceh for its remoteness, as well as the fact that the semi-autonomous government there recently imposed a version of sharia law. But while those captured include several former members of the Free Aceh Movement that in 2005 ended a 30-year military campaign for independence, al-Qaeda in Aceh does not have the support of the wider Free Aceh Movement leadership. In fact, police say it was Free Aceh Movement fighters who led them to the militant training camp. But while the fledgling al-Qaeda in Aceh may have lost its leader and main training grounds, police say there are at least seven more cells of the organization active on Indonesia's main island of Java alone. This network still has the capacity to create new cells. This is a very strong terrorism network,' said Andi Widjajanto, a military analyst at the University of Indonesia. What we are now seeing is the strengthening of the terrorist network in Indonesia, not its weakening.' Posted by: ryuge 2010-03-25 |
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