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| Southeast Asia |
| JI short on cash again |
| 2005-11-21 |
| Islamic militants behind a string of deadly bombings in Southeast Asia received private funds from Saudi Arabia up until last year, but are now running short of money, Indonesian security officials said Monday. Lt. Gen. Makbul Padmanegara, the country's chief detective, said in the past a Saudi Arabian citizen smuggled cash into Indonesia through migrant workers returning from the Middle East. Police broke the "courier network" last year after arresting an Indonesian man who allegedly received the money for the Southeast Asian terror network Jemaah Islamiyah, he said. At least some of the funds were intended for bombings in the Philippines, Padmanegara said. He did not elaborate or say if any of the money was used for a series of suicide attacks in Indonesia, including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 mostly foreign tourists. Police chief Gen. Sutanto acknowledged Monday that a "network in Saudi Arabia" had been financing Islamic militants, who were now struggling to find other sources of cash. He said some terrorists in Indonesia were selling prepaid phone cards - earning up to $500 a day - to help cover their operational costs. Police have said in the past that Jemaah Islamiyah received some of its funds from al-Qaida, as well as from criminal activity within Indonesia, including armed robberies. Analysts have speculated the group was short of money based on the fact that its most recent attack - the Oct. 1 triple suicide bombings on Bali - used small bombs carried in backpacks. Earlier strikes used larger and more expensive car bombs. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |