Al-Qaeda in SE Asia 'yet to be uprooted'

Al-Qaeda in SE Asia 'yet to be uprooted'

Martin Abbugao, Agence France-Presse, Singapore

The U.S. and its regional allies have yet to uncover the full extent of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist network in Southeast Asia despite the arrest of dozens of militants, FBI chief Robert Mueller said here on Friday.

Remnants of al-Qaeda are likely to have sought sanctuary in countries in Southeast Asia and the Middle East after their bases in Afghanistan were decimated by U.S. attacks, the Federal Bureau of Investigation director said.

Mueller, who arrived from Malaysia and is due to visit Indonesia to strengthen cooperation, said Washington will assist governments in the region in the fight against terrorism.

He met with Singapore Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng, the director of the Internal Security Department and the deputy police commissioner, but no details of the discussions were released.

"I think we have concerns in a number of regions, (including) in Southeast Asia because as al-Qaeda loses its sanctuary in Afghanistan, as it has, members of the al-Qaeda network will look elsewhere to establish sanctuaries," he said.

"We're looking at a number of countries both in the Middle East as well as Southeast Asia," he said in a forum organized by the American Chamber of Commerce here.

Singapore in December detained 13 men for allegedly plotting to blow up the U.S. embassy and other American targets here, and has shared information leading to the arrest of several other militants in Malaysia and the Philippines.

The arrests revealed the existence of an Islamic militant group called the Jemaah Islamiyah, which authorities said operated in Southeast Asia and has links with bin Laden, the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks in the U.S.

But Mueller said: "What we do not know is the extent of the support (for al-Qaeda) in Southeast Asia. We do not know all we want to know about the networks.

"We do not know or we would like to know about the means of communication, we don't know all we would like to know about the financial transfers, the money sources -- all of which together with our counterparts that we need to address," he said.

While the Jemaah Islamiyah has been identified, "that is not to say there are no others", he said.

"There have been linkages between that group and others and I think our efforts will be directed towards identifying ... similar groups that are operating in Singapore, Malaysia, southern Philippines and Indonesia.

"That's the challenge for the future," he said. Over the past six months, the FBI has sent "several hundred" agents overseas, including to Singapore and Malaysia, in a sign of increased cooperation, Mueller said.

Southeast Asian law enforcement agencies "have chased countless leads for us" and have made available to the FBI results of interviews related to the fight against terrorism, he said.

He said the FBI was in the process of building rapport and trust with Indonesia, whose government has been criticized by some U.S. officials and some of Jakarta's neighbors for failing to wage a similar crackdown on extremists.

Indonesian Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir has been identified by militants detained in Singapore as a leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah, but Jakarta has said it could not detain him due to lack of evidence.

"Indonesia has special challenges in coping with this problem -- the lack of resources, the large population size, the thousands of islands and the political distractions inherent in its new democracy," Mueller said.

It is not helpful to "preach to other countries," he added. "What we try to do and what is important for us to do is understand and be sensitive to the context in which our counterparts have to cooperate, build a foundation of trust and mutual respect.

"My visit to Indonesia is to thank the Indonesians for the help they have given us and to develop those kinds of relationships and build a foundation for further assistance," he added.