Asian Islamic militants pose growing threat: Downer

Asian Islamic militants pose growing threat: Downer

Alan Wheatley, Reuters, Kuala Lumpur

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said on Monday the
capacity of Asian militants linked to al-Qaeda was well-developed
and although their numbers were not increasing, their extremism
posed a mounting threat.

Downer singled out the regional Islamic militant Jemaah
Islamiah (JI) as a group with links to chief Sept. 11 attack
suspect Osama bin Laden, but stopped short of saying its alleged
leader should be charged. He said this was an issue for the
Indonesian government to assess.

"The organization we're most concerned about... is a loose-
knit group called Jemaah Islamiah," Downer told a news conference
in Kuala Lumpur on the sidelines of a meeting of the World
Economic Forum.

"There isn't any doubt in our mind that JI has links with the
al-Qaeda network," he said.

"JI was behind the potential attack on ours, the British and
American embassies in Singapore in December and has been involved
in a number of terrorist activities -- or planned terrorist
activities -- before and since."

Australia had been working very closely with Indonesia,
Malaysia and Singapore to ensure the threat of JI was addressed
"as quickly as possible", he said.

Indonesia was optimistic it could push anti-terrorist
legislation through parliament, he said, and was cooperating with
neighbors, particularly the Philippines where the threat was
underscored by the killing of a U.S. soldier in a bomb blast last
week.

Downer stressed the danger from more terror attacks in Asia,
but said he believed the number of extremists was not growing.

"It's a big problem for the region.

"But my view is that Islamic extremism in Southeast Asia is
not spreading. That is, extremists may be becoming more extreme
but the numbers of people who are extremists is not expanding,"
Downer said, speaking amid a plethora of reports of aborted
attacks planned from jungle-shrouded training camps.

"The average voter in Southeast Asia is not looking for
extremist political parties to vote for. But those who are
already extremist are becoming more activist and threatening."

International terrorism experts say the 2000 attack on the USS
Cole in Yemen was believed to have been planned from Malaysia,
training camps linked to al-Qaeda may exist in Indonesia and may
have sent instructors to the Philippines.

Downer voiced anxiety about the activities of Indonesian
Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asir who has been accused by
neighboring countries of involvement in regional terrorism.

"We have no doubt that Abu Ba'asir is a significant figure
associated with JI. JI is an organization we have enormous
problems with," Downer said. "We think it's a terrorist
organization."

Australia had information about Ba'asir that was a source of
great concern, he said.

"But to say I'm concerned about him and his activities is one
thing. To say the Indonesians should immediately lock him up
requires the Indonesians to have a basis for charging him under
Indonesian law," he said.

A Time magazine article last month quoted a Central
Intelligence Agency report as linking Ba'asir to an Arab, Omar
al-Faruq, who the CIA report said had allegedly confessed to
plotting attacks on U.S. embassies in Southeast Asia.

Al-Faruq has also been linked to JI, which the United States
is considering calling a terrorist organization. Malaysia and
Singapore have accused Ba'asir of being a key leader of JI,
something he denies, insisting the organization does not exist.

Jakarta has been criticized as southeast Asia's weakest link
in the war on terror. While it has cooperated in seizing foreign
suspects here, it has avoided going after local militants.

Some 85 percent of Indonesia's 210 million people are Muslim,
with the overwhelming majority holding moderate views.