RI minister warns of fresh terror attacks in Southeast Asia
RI minister warns of fresh terror attacks in Southeast Asia
Agence France-Presse, Manila
Indonesian security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Monday
warned that terrorist outfits are plotting fresh attacks across
Southeast Asia despite heavy blows suffered by the Jamaah
Islamiyah (JI) group.
"They are planning to conduct another strike in the future,
not only in Indonesia but other countries in the region,"
Susilo told AFP in an interview here.
"From documents we captured during our investigation, they
showed that terrorist groups are moving back and forth within the
region."
The minister, who called on Philippines President Gloria
Arroyo here earlier on Monday, urged Southeast Asian governments
to "strengthen our cooperation -- intelligence, police and other
technical cooperation to fight terrorism which is the number one
threat in the region."
"The only answer is we should unite as a regional community
and take collective action to prevent and deter and defeat
terrorism."
Susilo's warning echoed an advisory issued by the U.S. state
department last week.
It said the JI still had Americans in its sights after attacks
on two Bali nightclubs last year and a U.S.-run hotel in Jakarta
earlier this month, while the Philippines-based Abu Sayyaf
guerrilla group could target Americans both in the Philippines
and Indonesia.
"The U.S. Government believes extremist elements may be
planning additional attacks targeting U.S. interests in
Indonesia, particularly U.S. Government officials and
facilities," the state department said.
It particularly mentioned so called "soft-targets" like bars,
nightclubs and churches, which could attract terrorists since
U.S. installations were better secured.
The warning also cited "a risk of kidnappings by the Abu
Sayyaf terrorist group in the border areas of Indonesia near
Malaysia and the Philippines."
Alleged JI operations chief Hambali, an Indonesian also known
as Riduan Isamuddin, was arrested in Thailand on Aug. 11 and is
now in U.S. custody in a secret location.
One Indonesian JI militant has been sentenced to death for the
Bali bombings, with prosecutors also seeking the death penalty
for a second of several suspects now on trial.
Susilo said the Philippines and Indonesia would cooperate and
exchange information "as quickly as possible if we have any
information on the presence of several dangerous men."
He said the terrorist watchlist included two Malaysians and an
Indonesian who he did not name.
The Indonesian authorities earlier said Malaysian Azahari bin
Husin is thought to have built the bomb that killed 12 people at
the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta last month, with help from another
Malaysian suspect named Noordin Muhammad Top.
Manila and Jakarta also "agreed to enhance cooperation on how
we should capture Al-Ghozi," Susilo said, referring to convicted
Indonesian JI bomber Fathur Rohman Al-Ghozi, who escaped from a
Philippines jail in July.
Susilo pledged to Arroyo Jakarta's "assistance and cooperation
in the manhunt for Al-Ghozi," Arroyo's National Security Adviser
Roilo Golez said in a statement.
Al-Ghozi and two Filipino Abu Sayyaf guerrillas escaped from a
police prison in Manila on July 14.
He had been serving a 17-year prison term for procuring more
than a tonne of explosives, which Al-Ghozi subsequently confessed
was to have been used in a bombing campaign in Singapore.
He also said some of the explosives were used in a wave of
bombings that killed 22 people in Manila in December 2000.
One of the two rebels who escaped with him was subsequently
shot dead on the southern island of Mindanao last month.