JI active but not growing stronger, U.S. says

JI active but not growing stronger, U.S. says

Eileen Ng, Associated Press/Putrajaya, Malaysia

The latest bombings on Indonesia's Bali island show that Jamaah Islamiyah militants remain active, and Southeast Asian governments must expand cooperation to prevent their network from strengthening, a senior U.S. counterterrorism official said on Monday.

Jamaah Islamiyah, believed to be al-Qaeda's main ally in Southeast Asia, has been blamed for the Oct. 1 attacks on three restaurants on the resort island that killed three bombers and 20 other people and injured more than 100.

"I don't think (Jamaah Islamiyah) is getting stronger," Henry Crumpton, the U.S. State Department's counterterrorism coordinator, told reporters in Malaysia. "The organization to a large degree has been constrained, but that's not good enough. They're still operationally active."

Crumpton, who is touring Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines to discuss anti-terrorism efforts, called for more international cooperation, especially in intelligence- sharing and the planning of security policies, to counter the evolving threat of terrorist groups.

The U.S. is working with Indonesia to bolster its law enforcement and judicial system, Crumpton said, but he added that security will remain a challenge due to the nation's large size.

Bombings blamed on Jamaah Islamiyah first struck Bali in 2002, killing 202 people. But officials have noted that intense crackdowns in recent years led to the arrests of many Jamaah Islamiyah members in several countries and disrupted terror training.

Crumpton acknowledged there were other security concerns in Southeast Asia, such as the Islamic insurgency in southern Thailand. However, he said there was no evidence so far that international terrorists were connected to the violence.

"To my knowledge there is no linkage," Crumpton said. "It seems to be a local concern. We're hopeful in time that it will be resolved."

Crumpton said the U.S. also hopes to provide Southeast Asian countries with training and equipment to safeguard the Malacca Strait, a busy but pirate-infested shipping lane between peninsular Malaysia and Indonesia's Sumatra island.

Some intelligence experts have voiced fears that terrorists could collaborate with pirates to seize a ship in the strait, sail it into a harbor and set off a massive explosion.