'JI has 300-man attack force'<\/p>\n
Agencies, Jakarta\/Bangkok\/Sydney, Australia<\/p>\n
The Southeast Asian Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) militant group has at
\nleast 300 fighters trained in the Philippines and Afghanistan, a
\nsenior Indonesian policeman said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The leader of the group, linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda
\nand suspected of involvement in a string of attacks including
\nlast year's Bali bomb blasts, was arrested in Thailand last week.<\/p>\n
"According to our count it would be 300, but it could be more
\nthan that," National Police Detectives chief Comr. Gen. Erwin
\nMappaseng told a media conference when asked about the Jamaah
\nIslamiyah's strength.<\/p>\n
The 300 had been trained in Afghanistan and the southern
\nPhilippines, Erwin said. Moro guerrillas have been battling
\ngovernment forces in the south of the mostly Christian
\nPhilippines for decades.<\/p>\n
"They're competent in war tactics including the use of bombs
\nand explosives," he said.<\/p>\n
He said the squad also has a smaller elite group but denied
\nthat a "suicide squad" exists in JI.<\/p>\n
"It does not exist. No suicide squads have been mentioned (by
\npolice)," the detective chief said.<\/p>\n
The Bali bombings were suicide attacks. A suicide bomber is
\nalso suspected in the blast at the JW Marriott Hotel on Aug. 5
\nwhich took 12 lives but police have not confirmed this.<\/p>\n
The JI wants to set up an Islamic state across much of
\nSoutheast Asia.<\/p>\n
He showed reporters a photograph of a man with a moustache,
\nsaying it was the latest picture of the JI leader known as
\nHambali, who was Southeast Asia's most wanted man until he was
\ncaptured in a Thai town last week with two accomplices in a Thai-
\nU.S. operation. He is in U.S. custody.<\/p>\n
Hambali was involved in 39 bombings in eight Indonesian cities
\nbetween August 2000 and the Bali blasts in October 2002, Erwin
\nsaid on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Erwin said Indonesia is "very much interested" in questioning
\nHambali, who was arrested in Thailand last week and is in U.S.
\ncustody at an undisclosed location.<\/p>\n
In Manila, Philippines' Foreign Undersecretary Franklin
\nEbdalin said on Thursday Hambali should stand trial in the
\nPhilippines for plotting a train bombing that left 22 dead in
\nDecember 2000.<\/p>\n
Manila has sent a formal request for the U.S. government to be
\nallowed access to the Indonesian militant, also known as Riduan
\nIsamuddin.<\/p>\n
In another development, The Australian newspaper reported on
\nThursday Hambali has denied reports he planned to bomb a 21-
\nnation Asia-Pacific summit in Bangkok to be attended by U.S.
\nPresident George W. Bush.<\/p>\n
The paper, quoting an Asian intelligence officer who has
\nquestioned Hambali since his capture in Thailand last week, said
\nthe militant was plotting instead to bomb foreign embassies and
\nother targets in Bangkok.<\/p>\n
Thai officials earlier said Hambali had been planning an
\nattack on the October summit meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic
\nCooperation group, APEC.<\/p>\n
Separately, The Nation newspaper reported on Thursday a series
\nof lucky breaks led to the capture of Hambali including the
\ndiscovery of an apartment key in the pocket of a close aide
\narrested earlier,<\/p>\n
The Nation report could not be independently verified. The
\nEnglish-language daily was the first to report Hambali's arrest
\non Aug. 15, and has been covering the investigation closely.<\/p>\n
The Nation said Thai security forces were not even looking for
\nHambali. But the trail to Hambali was exposed after Thai security
\nforces arrested a Malaysian national suspected of being an al-
\nQaeda associate or sympathizer, it said, quoting an unidentified
\nsecurity source.<\/p>\n
"He was a small potato," the source said.<\/p>\n
But interrogation of that suspect, who was not named, led to
\nthe arrest of another Malaysian man, known as Lili, believed to
\nbe a senior member of al-Qaeda and a close aide of Hambali.<\/p>\n
Lili refused to reveal anything until interrogators happened
\nto see in his pocket a door key with a tag bearing the name of an
\napartment block in the ancient temple city of Ayutthaya, 80
\nkilometers (50 miles) north of Bangkok.<\/p>\n
Lili then revealed that Hambali was living in that apartment
\nblock, The Nation said. Within four hours of Lili's detention, a
\nforce comprising Thai and U.S. agents swooped down on Hambali's
\none-room apartment and took him away after a violent struggle,
\nthe source was quoted as saying by the newspaper.<\/p>\n
Hambali has told his interrogators that he was waiting for a
\nnew fake passport, the report said.<\/p>",
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