Asian Islamic militants pose growing threat: Downer<\/p>\n
Alan Wheatley, Reuters, Kuala Lumpur<\/p>\n
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said on Monday the
\ncapacity of Asian militants linked to al-Qaeda was well-developed
\nand although their numbers were not increasing, their extremism
\nposed a mounting threat.<\/p>\n
Downer singled out the regional Islamic militant Jemaah
\nIslamiah (JI) as a group with links to chief Sept. 11 attack
\nsuspect Osama bin Laden, but stopped short of saying its alleged
\nleader should be charged. He said this was an issue for the
\nIndonesian government to assess.<\/p>\n
\"The organization we're most concerned about... is a loose-
\nknit group called Jemaah Islamiah,\" Downer told a news conference
\nin Kuala Lumpur on the sidelines of a meeting of the World
\nEconomic Forum.<\/p>\n
\"There isn't any doubt in our mind that JI has links with the
\nal-Qaeda network,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"JI was behind the potential attack on ours, the British and
\nAmerican embassies in Singapore in December and has been involved
\nin a number of terrorist activities -- or planned terrorist
\nactivities -- before and since.\"<\/p>\n
Australia had been working very closely with Indonesia,
\nMalaysia and Singapore to ensure the threat of JI was addressed
\n\"as quickly as possible\", he said.<\/p>\n
Indonesia was optimistic it could push anti-terrorist
\nlegislation through parliament, he said, and was cooperating with
\nneighbors, particularly the Philippines where the threat was
\nunderscored by the killing of a U.S. soldier in a bomb blast last
\nweek.<\/p>\n
Downer stressed the danger from more terror attacks in Asia,
\nbut said he believed the number of extremists was not growing.<\/p>\n
\"It's a big problem for the region.<\/p>\n
\"But my view is that Islamic extremism in Southeast Asia is
\nnot spreading. That is, extremists may be becoming more extreme
\nbut the numbers of people who are extremists is not expanding,\"
\nDowner said, speaking amid a plethora of reports of aborted
\nattacks planned from jungle-shrouded training camps.<\/p>\n
\"The average voter in Southeast Asia is not looking for
\nextremist political parties to vote for. But those who are
\nalready extremist are becoming more activist and threatening.\"<\/p>\n
International terrorism experts say the 2000 attack on the USS
\nCole in Yemen was believed to have been planned from Malaysia,
\ntraining camps linked to al-Qaeda may exist in Indonesia and may
\nhave sent instructors to the Philippines.<\/p>\n
Downer voiced anxiety about the activities of Indonesian
\nMuslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asir who has been accused by
\nneighboring countries of involvement in regional terrorism.<\/p>\n
\"We have no doubt that Abu Ba'asir is a significant figure
\nassociated with JI. JI is an organization we have enormous
\nproblems with,\" Downer said. \"We think it's a terrorist
\norganization.\"<\/p>\n
Australia had information about Ba'asir that was a source of
\ngreat concern, he said.<\/p>\n
\"But to say I'm concerned about him and his activities is one
\nthing. To say the Indonesians should immediately lock him up
\nrequires the Indonesians to have a basis for charging him under
\nIndonesian law,\" he said.<\/p>\n
A Time magazine article last month quoted a Central
\nIntelligence Agency report as linking Ba'asir to an Arab, Omar
\nal-Faruq, who the CIA report said had allegedly confessed to
\nplotting attacks on U.S. embassies in Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n
Al-Faruq has also been linked to JI, which the United States
\nis considering calling a terrorist organization. Malaysia and
\nSingapore have accused Ba'asir of being a key leader of JI,
\nsomething he denies, insisting the organization does not exist.<\/p>\n
Jakarta has been criticized as southeast Asia's weakest link
\nin the war on terror. While it has cooperated in seizing foreign
\nsuspects here, it has avoided going after local militants.<\/p>\n
Some 85 percent of Indonesia's 210 million people are Muslim,
\nwith the overwhelming majority holding moderate views.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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