Police look into JI-MILF link

Police look into JI-MILF link

JAKARTA: The National Police are investigating a possible
connection between Southeast Asia's Jamaah Islamiyah (JI)
terrorist group and the Philippine's Moro Islamic Liberation
Front (MILF).

National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar announced that the
investigation was based on a connection between alleged JI
members and MILF members.

"Individually, some members (of both groups) are connected.
But we have yet to find the structural connection," he said.

Earlier this week, the police revealed that Fathurrahman Al-
Ghozi, an Indonesian currently serving a 12-year prison term for
the illegal possession of explosives in the Philippines,
confessed that he had been involved in the bombing outside the
residence of the Philippine ambassador here in 2000.

Al-Ghozi allegedly transported the bombs for the MILF rebels,
who are fighting for an independent state.

Some Bali bomb suspects who are thought to be JI members
reportedly trained on Mindanao island, the Philippines, where
MILF is based.

JI is said to be the Southeast Asian wing of the al-Qaeda
terrorist network. Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir is
allegedly the spiritual leader of JI. Ba'asyir has been in police
custody for five months on treason charges. -- JP