RI, Singapore warn of militant attacks

RI, Singapore warn of militant attacks

Achmad Sukarsono and Jason Szep, Reuters, Jakarta/Singapore

Militants are plotting more attacks in Southeast Asia and may be
planning to kill officials involved in the war on terror in
addition to hitting Western targets, top security officials said
on Thursday.

Singapore warned that the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) group, linked
to the al-Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden, was plotting new
attacks in Southeast Asia and may be activating dormant agents or
cells.

"Though some of the Jamaah Islamiyah leaders have been caught,
younger ones have risen to take their place and sleepers' may
have been roused to prepare for activation," Home Affairs
Minister Wong Kan Seng said in a speech marking the city-state's
Aug. 9 National Day.

In Jakarta, the head of the anti-terror coordinating board at
the office of Indonesia's chief security minister, said dozens of
arrests had depleted militant ranks but small cells were still
training for attacks in the world's most populous Muslim nation.

Last month, Malaysia's police intelligence chief also said he
believed JI leaders were regrouping and planning more attacks.

"The Jamaah Islamiyah has always been a threat and there are
very clear indications they continue to be a threat," said Andrew
Tan, an analyst at the Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies
in Singapore.

"The network is estimated to have as many as 3,000 people
involved across the region, we have only caught 200 of them," he
said.

Although officials say JI's links with al-Qaeda have been on
the wane in recent years, the new warnings come amid a string of
arrests of suspected al-Qaeda operatives in Pakistan.

Those arrests have led to other suspects being apprehended in
Britain and intelligence about plots to attack financial
institutions in the United States.

Indonesia has been worst-hit hit by terror attacks in
Southeast Asia, including the bombing of the JW Marriott Hotel in
Jakarta a year ago that killed 12 people, and nightclub bombings
on the resort island of Bali in 2002 that killed 202, many of
them foreign tourists.

Police blame JI for the attacks and suspects have said in
court they conducted the bombings because they hated the United
States and its Western allies.

"Foreign diplomats have always been a target. What is new is
not the foreign targeting but that they are now targeting
domestic officials, like the prosecutor who dealt with terror
cases in Palu," the Indonesian security official, Ansyaad Mbai,
told Reuters.

Gunmen shot dead prosecutor Ferry Silalahi last May in his car
in the Central Sulawesi city of Palu. The case has not been
solved, but officials suspect links to Silalahi's work in cases
linked to militants.

Mbai said although police had caught many militants involved
in attacks, several key suspects were still at large, including
the British-educated Malaysian engineer Azahari, believed to be
JI's chief bombmaker. He is wanted for assembling the Bali and
Marriott bombs.

Fellow Malaysian Noordin M. Top, believed to be involved in
financing operations, is also on the run.

"They are still controlling small groups which are being
trained and prepared to conduct attacks," Mbai told Reuters.

"We must never undervalue the threat of terrorism. It's
impossible to predict where and when the terrorists will attack.
Terror is about unpredictability," the police general said.

Wong, the Singaporean minister, said several JI members were
at large "and are said to be planning the next attack".

He also named Azahari and Top, but mentioned two others --
Dulmatin, another Malaysian, and Indonesian Zulkarnaen.

Singapore boasts Southeast Asia's most advanced security
apparatus but sees itself as a prime target after foiling plans
by JI to attack Western targets in 2001.

The island-state, a major base for Western businesses in Asia
and staunch U.S. ally, has detained 37 suspected Muslim militants
since authorities foiled the 2001 plot.

In Indonesia, authorities have vowed to boost security ahead
of the September 20 second-round presidential vote. Incumbent
Megawati Soekarnoputri and her former top security minister,
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, are battling for the country's top job.

Mbai said the election could provide opportunities for
militants to attack.

"From a security point of view, that will be the biggest
target and we must think that they would carry out something so
we must anticipate this. Hopefully, nothing happens," he said.