SE Asia seen as haven for JI

SE Asia seen as haven for JI

Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Singapore

Southeast Asia is still a haven for al-Qaeda operatives as radical groups in the region keep receiving external funding and support from charities and illicit channels, a United Nations report said on Wednesday.

The terrorist network's Southeast Asian arm, Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), and other al-Qaeda-linked groups are also purchasing weapons locally, said the report released by the UN Monitoring Group set up after the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States.

The report, published in The Straits Times, identifies Indonesia, the Philippines and Myanmar (Burma) among countries that are still not entirely cooperating on measures to curb money laundering and financing of terrorism.

It notes Singapore and Hong Kong are among those that have made "significant progress."

JI is the main suspect in the Oct. 12 bombings in the Indonesian resort island of Bali that killed more than 190 people. It is also suspected in a string of plots and attacks in the region in recent years.

The monitoring group's report said JI and other al-Qaeda- linked groups are buying their weapons locally. In an earlier report it said weapons were sourced from the Golden Triangle area.

The latest information indicates these "weapons were being obtained from local black markets, from the looting of military dumps and from corrupt servicemen."

According to the report, al-Qaeda operatives continue to move about in Southeast Asia, as well as in Europe and between Afghanistan and Pakistan, because a great many "remain unidentified".

Several of the charities and non-governmental organizations implicated in channeling funds to al-Qaeda or associated groups are based in the Middle East, Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia, it said.

The organization is considering Southeast Asia as a center where its assets can be stored for future requirements, "such as the possible re-establishment of training and recruitment center, if and when new safe areas become available to them," the U.N. report said.