Hambali, once dubbed the face of terror in South-East Asia, is providing vital information to security agencies on the operations of Osama bin Ladenâs al-Qaeda movement in the region. It is learnt that the Indonesian preacher, who had plotted and carried out a militant campaign, has told his interrogators how al-Qaeda had funded the Jemaah Islamiah, the extremist group he headed that has been blamed for church bombings in Jakarta and the deadly 2002 Bali bomb blasts. âHe is talking but we want to know more,â said a regional security source who has been receiving periodic reports from the American interrogators. However, security sources declined to reveal details of the funding as investigations were still in progress.
Hambali, or Riduan Isamuddin, who was the brains behind the fanatical JI that has been accused of carrying out a series of church bombings in the Indonesian capital and the Bali blasts that killed over 200 people, is also said to have spoken about his meetings with Khalid Sheikh Mohamed, a brother-in-law of Osama. Khalid, who has since been arrested, allegedly delivered money to Hambali to finance his JI operations. The sources said that the Americans, who had yet to allow regional security forces to quiz Hambali, wanted to know how Hambali arranged for militants from Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines to travel to Afghanistan via Pakistan. âHambali was said to have helped provide these extremists with forged documents purportedly for them to study religion in several madrasah in Pakistan,â a source said.Â
| Forged documents and Pakistan do seem to go together. |
In Afghanistan and in the southern Philippines, these terrorists were given arms training before they embarked on their series of bombing campaigns in Indonesia and the Philippines. The intelligence agencies also want to hear from Hambali whether training camps were set up in Indonesia for recruits in what were known as Camp Bushra and Camp Abubakar. It is understood that the intelligence agencies were also trying to find out who the other key al-Qaeda leaders that Hambali had met and their roles.Â
Intelligence sources said the interrogation focused on Hambaliâs tactical support, financial capabilities, cell network and associated organisations of JI in the region. âThe agencies are also keen to trace the JIâs links to the MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) and the Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines,â a source said. The source said this was vital as two of the JIâs most wanted men, Malaysians Dr Azahari Husin and Noordin Mohd Top, were still at large and posed a serious threat to the region. It is learnt that authorities probing Hambaliâs activities in the region recently seized several of his personal belongings, including photographs taken before his capture. The Star managed to obtain a new photograph of Hambali who had used it to get a fake Spanish passport in his bid to elude the police dragnet. Gone were the beard, spectacles and white skullcap he had used at the time of his arrest in Thailand last August. In the photograph, which has never been published, Hambali, known to be a master of disguise, is pictured wearing a Western-style jacket. Not only did he change his hairstyle, he also changed his name to Daniel Suarez Naviera.
| Now he's a captured master of disguise. |
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