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| Southeast Asia |
| Jakarta Pinpoints Islamic Terror Groups |
| 2002-10-13 |
| Hardline Indonesian Muslim groups, most likely working with the international terrorist ring al Qaeda, are the main suspects for the bombs that devastated Baliâs tourism heart, senior Indonesian intelligence sources say. Oh, really? Finally noticed, did we? The intelligence sources say a Pakistani national captured with a quantity of high explosives in the strife-torn Poso area of Central Sulawesi last week had only told his interrogators that the explosives were being prepared for âan American airlinerâ. "Oh. Well. That's okay, then..." One source says there is a high likelihood that Central Java-based cleric Abu Bakar Baasyir is involved but says there is no evidence as yet to link him to the blast. Apparently, gathering enough evidence against Abu is a physical impossibility... Baasyir heads a shadowy organisation known as Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), accused of involvement in plots against foreign embassies, including Australiaâs, in Singapore and other terrorist crimes. The interrogation had failed to prise any more information out of the man before the explosions occurred in Bali and in the Christian area of Menado, North Sulawesi. They weren't hitting him hard enough... The sources say the choice of Bali and Menado was apparently designed to wreak maximum havoc among non-Muslims. âIf the bombs had been planted in (the Central Java cities of) Solo or Yogyakarta, there would have been bound to be many Muslim victims,â says one senior intelligence operative attached to the office of the Coordinating Minister for Politics and Security. âThatâs why they chose to explode these bombs in Bali and Menado, where the chance of Muslims becoming victims were very small.â Infidels are nothing but targets... Indonesiaâs security apparatus was locked in meetings yesterday (Sunday), forced to confront the reality of terrorism that it managed for so long to deny. They'll be back to denying it as soon as they can... Some official sources continued to paint the Bali terror in the light of domestic political struggles, but most ruled out the possibility that the bombs were the work of elements trying to destroy Indonesiaâs image and its current government, and pointed the finger straight at Islamic terrorism. Coordinating Minister for Politics and Security Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told reporters there were indications of who was responsible. âWhat is clear, terrorism has occurred. There are plenty of victims and at this stage we do not want to create new problems by accusing group A or group B. It could be foreigners or Indonesians or a combination of both.â Thank you for that statement of the obvious... He promised the Indonesian government would act swiftly and harshly, admitting that up until now the government had failed to adopt a clear policy on terrorism. âThis incident has created a turning point and from now on the government will not be able to entertain doubts about harsh action.â Until the local fundos start bitching and rioting again... In the last few weeks high-ranking officials have finally admitted that foreign terrorists, including al Qaeda members, have either passed through or been based in Indonesia. They have announced the formation of a National Security Council that will report directly to the President, and which sources say is likely to be given powers to detain suspects without charge. Rather like India's POTO, no doubt... The change in attitude by Indonesiaâs government is believed to have followed extensive talks between President Megawati Sukarnoputri and Karen Brooks, a senior south-east Asia expert at the American government's National Security Council. Ms Brooks, who has been a friend of Megawatiâs since her post-graduate studies in Indonesia, showed the president the video footage to prove that terrorism was alive and well in Indonesia. The footage, obtained from a captured German-born Arab, Reda, showed training sessions believed to have been conducted in the Poso area of Sulawesi, where Muslim-Christian conflict has been underway sporadically for the past three years. That kind of thing has been impossible for the Indonesians to come up with themselves... The capture and deportation of Omar al-Farouq, a Kuwaiti thought to be among al Qaeda's most senior agents in Southeast Asia, and the arrest of Reda provided plenty more evidence that Indonesiaâs earlier equivocal stand on terrorism was misplaced. Adding to the evidence that Indonesians are very much part of al Qaeda is the strong suspicion that two Indonesian terrorists are believed to have trained Filipino Muslim extremists who set a motorbike bomb in General Santos in the south of the country last week. The bomb killed three, including a US soldier, and left another 25 wounded. The Indonesians are believed to be members of Jemaah Islamiyah. They had trained members of the Abu-Sayyaf and Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the manufacture and handling of explosives, The Straits Times reported. Whereupon the Indonesians contorted themselves into 7000 unlikely positions to deny any link, deny the existence of terror networks in their country, and to become indignant at other countries "meddling" in their affairs... The men, both from South Sulawesi, were believed to have worked with Omar Al-Faruq. They had gone into hiding following the arrest of fellow JI member Uskar Makawata last month in General Santos, the paper quoted police sources as saying. Makawata, also from South Sulawesi, is being held at a maximum-security prison in Manila for his alleged involvement in a series of bombings in central Mindanao. And they picked up another one today... Suspect Islamic cleric Basyir earlier denied allegations that he was involved in terrorism as âa big lieâ, saying it was part of a US conspiracy to put him behind bars. He warned that a move against him would amount to an attack against Islam. âI defend Islam. Now it is up to the Indonesian government, police and people to also defend Islam, or to choose to defend America,â he told a press conference. âI am not afraid of arrest. But if they do so without following the law, I will use all my power to fight it. I have lots of Muslim brothers, and they can help me.â "Screw with me and my boyz will riot and kill people in droves. Don't screw with me and they'll do it anyway." Mudzakir, a close associate of Basyirâs, said Muslim youth would be told to be ready to sacrifice their lives for the right to defend their religion. âIf these leaders are arrested for terror-related charges, then we will have to go all out to fight.â That's because to Islamists the Great Leader — whoever he happens to be at the moment — is the same thing as Islam itself. Makes it pretty easy to do anything you damn well please... Despite the hardlinerâs threats, pressure was mounting on fundamentalists groups that have been free to operate for the past four years. The leader of the Laskar Jihad movement, which has waged outright war against Christians in Maluku and Poso, is facing charges, and the Islamic Defenderâs Front, which has trashed nightlife spots without any police action, suddenly found eight of its members and its leader jailed for the latest attack on nightclubs at the end of September. Those are baby steps, even though they've been needed. But the Bad Guys have powerful protection in the person of Mr Vice President. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |