Terror threat grows as JI extremists flee to Cambodia, Thailand:
\nexperts<\/p>\n
Talek Harris
\nAgence France-Presse
\nBangkok<\/p>\n
The threat of international terrorism is feared to be growing in
\nThailand and Cambodia as extremists flee security clamp-downs in
\nother Southeast Asian countries, security experts say.<\/p>\n
The arrests in Cambodia this week of two Thai Muslims accused
\nof belonging to the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) regional terror network
\nis the clearest sign yet of an increase in activity, said
\npolitical scientist Panitan Wattanayagorn.<\/p>\n
\"It's suspected that security measures that have been taken up
\nin neighboring countries may bring a rise in (terrorist)
\nactivities in other countries like Thailand and Cambodia,\" said
\nPanitan.<\/p>\n
JI operatives are believed to be fleeing security operations
\nin Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, where scores of suspected
\nmembers of the al-Qaeda-linked group have been arrested since
\nlast October's Bali attack, he said.<\/p>\n
\"I am sure there will be some incidents that they cannot
\ncontain,\" said the one-time advisor to the Thai government who
\nnow lectures at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.<\/p>\n
Panitan said it was impossible to predict if there would be a
\nrepeat of large-scale attacks linked with the al-Qaeda terror
\nnetwork, such as the Bali bombings and the deadly blasts in Saudi
\nArabia and Morocco this month.<\/p>\n
But he said Wednesday's Cambodian arrests served as a warning
\nto Thailand that despite its efforts to distance itself from the
\nterrorist threat, it could find itself in the firing line.<\/p>\n
The arrests in Cambodia, where officials said they had smashed
\na terror ring operating from an Islamic school, prompted Thai
\npremier Thaksin Shinawatra to admit the kingdom is harboring
\n\"inactive\" members of JI.<\/p>\n
Until now, Thailand has consistently played down any
\nassociation with international terrorism in a bid to protect its
\nlucrative tourism industry.<\/p>\n
Tony Davis, Southeast Asia correspondent for Jane's
\nIntelligence Review, also said the arrests indicated a stronger
\nJI presence in Thailand than previously thought.<\/p>\n
\"My working understanding of Jamaah Islamiyah inside of
\nThailand is that it has always been very low-key, a few
\nindividuals fulfilling a support function, but this might
\nindicate otherwise,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"The fact that there are Thais over there (in Cambodia) puts
\nThailand's position in the whole regional picture in probably a
\nmore prominent light.\"<\/p>\n
Panitan said JI operatives in Thailand could be up to anything
\nfrom coordinating information to identifying sites to attack.
\n\"Mostly they're probably gathering information and perhaps trying
\nto identify targets,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"They may be carrying out activities including some kind of
\nterrorist attacks. From what we hear, their intentions are not
\ngood.\"<\/p>\n
Jaran Mahuleem, a political science lecturer at Thammasat
\nUniversity in Bangkok, said the arrests were probably not linked
\nto unrest in Muslim-majority southern Thailand, long considered a
\nlikely breeding ground for extremists.<\/p>\n
But he said that Muslims in the impoverished south, where a
\ndecades-old separatist rebellion has lost steam in recent years,
\nwere vulnerable to being recruited by JI.<\/p>\n
\"JI is a new thing which is happening in Malaysia, and
\nMalaysians are very close with the people in southern Thailand,\"
\nhe said. \"(Extremist) activity is there, of course. But no
\ninformation is available about the movement of JI.\"<\/p>\n
Unconfirmed reports citing FBI intelligence have described a
\nmeeting of high-level Arab and Southeast Asian militants in
\nsouthern Thailand, 10 months before the Bali attack.<\/p>",
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