JI: A potent force with a regional network<\/p>\n
Derwin Pereira, The Straits Times, Asia News Network, Singapore<\/p>\n
The Jemaah Islamiah is small compared to other militant groups
\nin Indonesia but it has an international reach that makes it a
\npotent and dangerous force.<\/p>\n
Established in 1995, it has built up a regional network that
\ncovers Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, the Philippines and
\nSingapore, and a line of patronage to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda
\nnetwork.<\/p>\n
In Indonesia, it set up base in Solo and other parts of
\nCentral Java, where there are reportedly 1,500 members, and in
\nTasikmalaya, West Java, where there are 500 members.<\/p>\n
All of them are now on the run, seeking refuge in Batam and
\nthe Riau islands after the recent crackdown in Singapore and
\nMalaysia.<\/p>\n
The tightly run JI is organized along hierarchical lines.<\/p>\n
It has a five-man central executive board, which coordinates
\nactivities with militants in neighboring countries and formulates
\nideology and doctrine.<\/p>\n
Sources say that JI also employs professionals to handle
\nmatters of finance, recruitment and welfare of its members, many
\nof whom are "sleepers".<\/p>\n
And blending in with the rakyat makes it hard for intelligence
\noperatives to track them.<\/p>\n
Recruitment is very selective, based on careful screening of
\nfamily background and sound knowledge of Islamic fundamentals.<\/p>\n
"We are not a mass organization," said a senior JI source.<\/p>\n
"We want people who will be loyal to the aims of our group."<\/p>\n
Most members go through three training phases, he said.<\/p>\n
In the first stage, which lasts up to a year, they are placed
\nin selected pesantrens or religious boarding schools to study in-
\ndepth the Quran.<\/p>\n
The next six months are devoted to the study of theories of
\nnation- building and different models of government - democratic,
\nauthoritarian, monarchies - and ways to build an Islamic
\ntheocracy in a world controlled by "the Great Satan" - the United
\nStates.<\/p>\n
The last phase involves physical exercises and training in the
\nuse of traditional arms.<\/p>\n
A select few - about 50 so far - have been sent to Afghanistan
\nto be trained by the al-Qaeda, said the JI source.<\/p>\n
In Kandahar, together with members from Malaysia and the
\nPhilippines, these JI members were taught how to use guns,
\nassemble bombs, make Molotov cocktails, carry out surveillance
\nand sabotage operations and fight a guerrilla war.<\/p>\n
None of the JI members had personal contact with terrorist
\nchief Osama, though they claimed to have met al-Qaeda's chief
\nstrategist Mohammed Atef, who was killed in the outskirts of
\nKabul by American airstrikes in November.<\/p>\n
After three months of military training, they returned to
\nIndonesia to teach other members what they had learnt and engage
\nin joint operations with JI terrorist cells in neighboring
\nstates.<\/p>\n
JI's objective, couched under a doctrine called "Nusantara
\nRaya", is to build an Islamic republic encompassing Indonesia,
\nMalaysia and the southern Philippines.<\/p>\n
Why Asia and why these three targets?<\/p>\n
A JI official noted that Asia is the other region in the world
\nwith the largest concentration of Muslims after the Middle East.<\/p>\n
Their targets would all make the "transition" to Islamic
\nstates because they were Muslim-populated countries.<\/p>\n
Brunei was considered an option but the JI backed down because
\nBandar Seri Begawan had a well-entrenched monarchy that would be
\ndifficult to topple.<\/p>\n
Singapore did not figure too because it was perceived to be
\n"only for Chinese and Christians".<\/p>\n
But in the grand scheme of things, the JI viewed both
\nSingapore and Brunei as critical for "third-country operations"
\nand also potential targets for acts of terrorism because they
\nwere seen as staunch U.S. allies.<\/p>",
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