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Southeast Asia
US looking JI ties to Thai rebels
2005-02-16
The United States is tracking possible links between the violence in the deep South of Thailand and the regional terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah, a US State Department official said.

Celina Realuyo, director of Counterterrorism Finance Programmes, said intelligence reports indicated there were links between the Indonesian group and insurgents in Thailand and Malaysia.

``We're now closely keeping an eye on the terrorists movement in Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia and Thailand,'' she told a security seminar.

Washington's targets included some groups in Malaysia who had donated money to Islamic schools in Thailand.

Financial transactions and money laundering in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries were also being examined.

``We've found that some terrorist groups donated money in the guise of charity to Islamic communities and Islamic schools which are linked to the insurgents who have bombed the south of Thailand,'' Ms Realuyo said.

The United States was trying to check their bank accounts, telephone calls, text messages and charities, she said.

``It's not easy. It's hard to check because they all made donations in cash,'' Ms Realuyo admitted.

She said the United States was also keeping a lookout for international terrorists who may have seemed to donate money to tsunami-hit countries, but the money actually ended up supporting their membership.

The arrest of Hambali _ a key member of Jemaah Islamiyah and one of the most dangerous terrorists in Southeast Asia _ in Ayutthaya in August 2003 underscored the US concern about the group's connection with Thailand.

His apprehension led to the later arrest of some Muslims in southern Thailand suspected of being JI members, she said.

Ruhanas Harun, a lecturer in international and strategic studies at the University of Malaya, argued that there was no concrete evidence that Thailand and Malaysia were part of the terrorist network.

But authorities should monitor Thais and Malaysians whose families had connections with Indonesia, Ms Ruhanas said.

Marilyn Bruno, of the US Office of Terrorism Finance and Economic Sanctions Policy, said any person providing accommodation, vehicles, money or bank accounts directly or indirectly to terrorists would also be considered terrorists.
Posted by:Dan Darling

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