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| Southeast Asia |
| More details on Abu Dujana |
| 2006-03-24 |
| Bad news if true, since this indicates that JI, far from having schismed as was believed to be the case post-Bali, was actually just working parallel lines with Azahari and Top running the actual terror operations and Abu Dujana, Zulkarnaean, and Co being hard at work maintaining the organization and strengthening their hold over MILF in Mindanao. Throw that together with the involvement of Binny and KSM's financing operations and it looks like the Bad Guys are making a long-term investment in Mindanao into a kind of Afghanistan East, which is more valuable to them in the long run than any bombings they manage to carry out in Indonesia. One of the most frustrating setbacks for the war on terrorism has been the ability of the Bad Guys to successfully establish rear bases (Waziristan, Mindanao, and until the fall of Shevardnadze parts of Georgia as well) from which to regroup and reorganize. Regional terrorism network Jemaah Islamiyah, blamed for a series of deadly bombings in Indonesia, has for the past three years been led by a militant named Abu Dujana, according to a senior police officer. Senior Commissioner Petrus Reinhard Golose, deputy commander of Indonesia's counter-terrorism task force, on Wednesday (22/3/06) said Dujana has been at the helm of the group since April 2003, when he replaced Abu Rusdan. Rusdan was allegedly appointed caretaker leader of Jemaah Islamiyah in October 2002, replacing militant cleric Abu Bakar Baasyir, who co-founded the group with Abdullah Sungkar in Malaysia in 1993. Baasyir was said to have assumed the leadership after Sungkar died in 1999. Both Rusdan and Baasyir have strongly denied any involvement in terrorism and insisted that Jemaah Islamiyah does not exist. Golose said Dujana has strong leadership qualities, close links to al Qaeda, speaks Arabic fluently, and received weapons training in Afghanistan, where he met Osama bin Laden. Dujana was reportedly born in West Java, grew up in Central Java and fled to Malaysia in the 1980s to escape a crackdown on Islamic militants by then president Suharto. After teaching at the Lukmanul Hakiem Islamic School set up by Jemaah Islamiyah’s leadership in Johor Baru, Dujana went to Afghanistan to join the war against the Soviets. He graduated from the Mujahideen Military Academy in 1991 and is said to have studied bomb-making there alongside Jemaah Islamiyah’s former operations commander Hambali, who also reputedly headed al Qaeda’s Southeast Asian wing until his arrest in Thailand in 2003. Hambali is now being held by the US, which has so far refused to hand him over to Indonesia for trial. Golose said that whenever he had mentioned Dujana's name to Australian authorities they said the militant was too young to be head of Jemaah Islamiyah. Dujana’s age has been put at between 34 and 37. According to Golose, senior Jemaah Islamiyah figures Azahari Husin and Noordin M. Top had reported to Dujana following the August 2003 suicide bombing that killed 12 people at Jakarta’s JW Marriott Hotel. Azahari was shot dead in November 2005 during a police raid on his East Java hideout, while Noordin remains at large. Golose said Dujana is a skilled bomber, "more dangerous than Noordin and Azahari” and maintains good relations with al Qaeda. More than 270 people have been arrested in Indonesia on suspicion of involvement in terrorism since 2000. But several key figures have evaded arrest. In addition to Noordin and Dujana, Indonesia’s most wanted terror suspects include Dulmatin, Umar Patek and Zulkarnaen. All three are accused of involvement in the Bali bombings. Zulkarnaen is believed to have replaced Hambali as Jemaah Islamiyah’s operations chief. Dulmatin, an explosives expert, is believed to be in the southern Philippines. Golose said the arrest of Noordin or one or two other senior radicals would not reduce the threat of terrorism in Indonesia, as Jemaah Islamiyah has trained several new bomb-makers. He said it was difficult to pinpoint exactly who is in charge of Jemaah Islamiyah because its individual cells operate secretively and often independently of one another, while the group has also been divided by ideological and tactical splits. For example, Noordin has reportedly declared himself leader of Tanzim Qaedat al-Jihad (Jihad Basis Organization), which is viewed as a renegade offshoot of Jemaah Islamiyah. Golose said Noordin, who has also proclaimed himself to be al Qaeda's Southeast Asian representative, is only a member of Asykari (Jemaah Islamiyah’s militant wing or special force) and not part of Markazi (Jemaah Islamiyah’s central organization). The US Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Rewards for Justice program is offering a $10 million reward for information leading to Dulmatin. The FBI is also offering a $1 million reward for Patek. Indonesia’s National Police headquarters is offering a Rp1 billion reward for Noordin. Neither the US nor Indonesia are offering a reward for Dujana, who is thought to be in Indonesia. Golose said arresting Dujana is a priority. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |